Vandals strike historic Sitka cemetery
For the third time since mid-September 2015, vandals toppled marble headstones weighing hundreds of pounds at the 200-year-old Russian Orthodox and Alaska Native cemetery here during the last weekend of October. By mid-week the alleged vandals—a group of pre-teens—had been apprehended following a door-to-door search.
As reported on KCAW Raven Radio, Sitka Police Lieutenant Lance Ewers said that if the culprits had been adults, the vandalism would have constituted a Class C felony. He hoped that the State of Alaska’s juvenile justice system would “give these kids the help they need and get them educated about what appropriate behaviors are and introduce the consequences. This doesn’t have to happen again, so I’m happy about that.”
Archpriest Michael Boyle, Dean of Sitka’s historic Archangel Michael Cathedral, has offered to speak with the pre-teens to “help them to understand what this sacred ground is and what it means to the Russian and Tlingit Orthodox people of Sitka as well as the whole community of Sitka, how ancestors are to be respected and honored, and why a sacred space is given for them for their rest.” He added that Lt. Ewers thought that this was an “excellent idea” and that he would speak with the group’s probation officer.
Some of the cemetery’s gravestones date back to the 1800s, and between the three incidents some 25 them sustained significant damage. Police, firefighters, students from the Alaska State Troopers’ Sitka Academy and local Orthodox faithful helped put the headstones upright. People also quickly responded after the first two incidents on September 13 and 22. Police indicated that although the group had been caught, new night vision cameras had been installed in the cemetery to monitor any copycat behavior.