Families seek answers after graves damaged, debris left at Fayette County cemetery

Family members with loved ones at a Fayette County cemetery are looking for answers after they said they found their gravesites damaged and covered in tree branches and debris this week.

It happened at Oak Grove Cemetery in Uniontown.

"I have the veteran's burial card; it's a solid marble tombstone. Whatever fell on it, it broke a solid piece of marble," Susane Borek said about her third great-grandfather's tombstone.

Borek takes great pride in where she comes from and is deeply connected to her roots and preserving her family's history.

"For me, for this ancestor, that is my only connection to him, is being able to come to his grave and to see his tombstone," Borek said.

She said her third-great-grandfather, Robert Skyles Jacquette, was a soldier in the Civil War for the 75th Ohio Infantry and fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. He died in 1888.

"I believe the Grand Army of the Republic was the one responsible for making the tombstone at the time," Borek said.

She said his tombstone was broken in half this week after tree removal crews were hired at the cemetery.

"As I started getting closer, I noticed all of the piles of tree limbs, and when I got to his tombstone, it was completely covered. It was broken off. I could see part of the flag from his military marker underneath the rubble," Borek said.

His gravesite was one of many covered in branches and debris after work was completed.

The cemetery supervisor, Art Roll, told KDKA-TV that Jim Gibson Tree Services was hired to remove hazardous trees and branches on the property.

He said he, too, was shocked by the mess left behind.

"That really upset me. When he says, 'We can do this with no problem,' and then I can come and find this," Roll said.

Roll said he tried to temporarily repair Borek's great-great-great-grandfather's tombstone after noticing it was damaged, but pointed fingers at the tree company to pay for the damages.

"They damaged it, it's their responsibility. That's the way I look at it," Roll said.

"I felt like, heartbroken and mad about the whole situation. Like, how can someone cut down a tree that does business and not worry about the other people doing that? Like, they're only in it for the money," said Maddey Borek, Susane's daughter.

Susane Borek said she wants to see the mess cleaned up and any tombstones that were damaged repaired, telling KDKA-TV the gravesites aren't just markers, but pieces of history.

"These are the founders of our community, that's all buried here," Borek said. "This whole cemetery is filled with history. And you know, it just saddens me that you know, whoever the tree cutter was, that, you know, they couldn't even consider the people that were below where they were cutting the branches."

On Friday afternoon, KDKA-TV reached out to the company that the cemetery said they had hired.

Jim Gibson said his company is a nonprofit that goes by Jim G Complete Property Maintenance.

Gibson claimed he had a deal with the cemetery to leave the firewood on the property after they cut down the trees and that they'd clean up the rest.

Gibson told KDKA-TV that his truck broke down, but crews were planning to return as soon as Friday afternoon to begin to clean it up.

When KDKA-TV asked what his plans were to repair the damage, he said he never saw any broken tombstones.