Hazlehurst families outraged after cleanup crew strips items from loved ones’ graves

HAZLEHURST, Ga. (WTOC) - The City of Hazlehurst is apologizing to local families after numerous gravesites were disturbed and stripped of priceless personal items at a local cemetery.

On Friday, a Georgia corrections facility cleanup crew removed items from gravesites at Hazlehurst Memorial Cemetery. While city leaders said the cleanup was meant to enforce an ordinance prohibiting loose items at gravesites, residents argue the crew went too far, removing items that had been in place for years—and in some cases, decades.

“They can’t defend themselves, we have to now,” said Roberta Faust, who had several family members’ gravesites disturbed. “This is their resting place, so for somebody to destroy their resting places… irks me.”

Family members who visited the cemetery described finding glued-on statues chiseled off and cherished keepsakes missing.

“You can even see the mark from what was an angel glued to my nana’s gravestone,” said Hunter Cupp, whose grandparents and uncle are buried at the cemetery. “That isn’t a loose item, and it’s why people are saying this feels intentional.”

“If it was blown into the wood line or something, I could understand,” Cupp added. “But to go and meticulously pick things off of people’s tombstones absolutely blows my mind. The lack of empathy for the families… it’s just heartbreaking.”

In a statement, the City of Hazlehurst called the incident a tragedy and apologized to the impacted families. However, the apology has done little to ease the pain of those left searching for missing pieces of their family history.

Other visitors, like Denise Hall, arrived at the cemetery to find that bibles, crosses, and other irreplaceable artifacts had been stripped from her mother’s and sister’s graves.

“They’re irreplaceable,” Cupp said. “So what if it was a $2 stone from the dollar store? It meant something to me.”

City officials have not yet answered where the removed items are or if they can be recovered. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.