Historic East Side cemetery hit by vandals

2 other nearby cemeteries damaged last December

SAN ANTONIO – Another historic East Side cemetery has been vandalized, marking the third cemetery vandalized since December.

Vandals hit the National Cemetery, the City Cemetery and most recently, the Old German Lutheran Cemetery, which all neighbor each other east of downtown.

Police said they don’t know if the crimes are connected.

This time, at least 40 headstones were toppled and desecrated, possibly over the weekend.

Ron Stinson, finance committee chairman of St. John’s Lutheran Church, has a message to the vandals responsible for the “malicious destruction”:

“I don’t know what kind of satisfaction you get inside, destroying some historical grave markers of people who did so much to establish our church and San Antonio," Stinson said.

“Shame on you. Why did you not understand the importance of having dignity and respect for those who came before? It’s just mind-boggling.”

“It breaks your heart to know that these people who worked so hard to establish a church and here they rest, and now this happens.”

San Antonio police said vandalizing a cemetery is considered a state jail felony.


About the Author:

Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.