Vandals cause more than $100K in damages at historic New York cemetery

(CBS News) A historic New York City cemetery has been vandalized by what cemetery officials are describing as "a very sick individual or individuals," causing more than $100,000 in damages.

Green-Wood Cemetery officials announced that 43 memorials had been knocked over or defaced. About 90 staff members who were working on the cemetery grounds discovered the damage on Tuesday morning.

"Most of the damaged monuments date back to the 1800s. Many cannot be replaced," Richard J. Moylan said to CBS Station WCBS in New York.

Many monuments broke into pieces after being toppled including an arch and several urns, according to WCBS. One of the oldest memorials that was vandalized belonged to a general from the War of 1812. Four marble crosses had been pushed over, and three of them remain in several parts. Two porcelain photographs were purposely scratched, and another was smashed. Other gravestones were smeared with mud.

Though there are constant car patrols of the grounds, mounted video cameras and a high fence that surrounds the 478-acre cemetery, a vandal or a group of vandals were able to enter the premises and topple and deface some of the monuments, Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman wrote on the official blog. One of the cameras was able to record a possible suspect. The evidence has been turned over to New York City Police Department's Hate Crimes Squad.

The Brooklyn burial grounds, which were founded in 1838, were declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is one of America's first rural cemeteries and was also the location of the Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War.

The cemetery is the final resting place for many famous individuals including politician William Magear "Boss" Tweed, founder and editor of the New York Tribune Horace Greeley and composer Leonard Bernstein.

While Green-Wood Cemetery or the Green-Wood Historic Fund is not legally obligated to repair the vandalism, they said they will cover the costs of fixing the damage. They are also asking for contributions to help pay for restorations. Interested parties can donate online on the Green-Wood Cemetery website.

"Society has many duties. Certainly one of those is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. And, who is less able to protect themselves than those who have passed away? So, when mindless vandalism like this occurs, society, and all of us, have a duty to protect these memorials," Richman said.