Vandals Target 100-Year-Old Headstones At Tulsa Cemetery

Vandalism is always so frustrating and senseless. Tulsa police are investigating a case where vandals damaged headstones in one of the oldest cemeteries in the city.

Every cemetery has it's own unique beauty and reverence. With a little detective work, even a headstone or marker can give a glimpse of the past.

"That's just fascinating to think about the lives these people lived, and what they saw," said Tulsa Police Detective Matt Arnold.

But it's not a love of genealogy or history that brought Arnold to the Oaklawn Cemetery, one of Tulsa's oldest. He's investigating a crime.

"To desecrate a grave is just offensive," he said.

About a week ago, a City of Tulsa security guard patrolling through the cemetery at 11th and Peoria at about three in the morning, discovered a vandal damaged several headstones.

"The fact that someone could be so careless to just come in here and knock a headstone over; that's disrespectful," said Detective Matt Arnold, TPD.

Altogether, five headstones are damaged. The markers date back to a span from 1906 to 1915. City crews have uprighted the headstones, but they still need permanent fixes.

Since the headstones are so old, it's a challenge for officers to find family members who might want to fix the damage.

"Chances are if we contacted someone, they might not even know these are their relatives from 100 years ago," Arnold said.

One headstone honors an infant: born February 23rd, 1913; died March 3rd, 1914. Another is a remembrance for a little girl.

"Clarice Mahan; she was 10 years old," Arnold said.

Each headstone represents someone loved by others - and each act of vandalism is so senseless.

"Even if it was 100 years ago, that doesn't matter, it's still a memorial to a person, and the people that would come in here and knock these over have no regard for that," the detective said.

Here are the names on the damaged headstones, just in case there may be a relative still in our area who wants to fix markers at Oaklawn Cemetery:

• Mellie and George England
• William McLaughlin
• Vera Claypool
• Clarice Mahan