A local resident reported to police over the weekend that a historic cemetery had been vandalized and items had been stolen from the grave sites.
On Saturday evening, Elizabethton Police Department Officer David Johnson responded to Green Hill Cemetery, located just off of West Mill Street next to the Tractor Supply store. When Johnson arrived, he spoke with Donald Bowers who wished to report theft and vandalism at the cemetery. Bowers told the officer he watches over the cemetery and does some routine maintenance.
“Mr. Bowers advised five Confederate flags had been stolen from the cemetery as well as a Confederate Star,” Johnson said. “Mr. Bowers advised several headstones had been moved and pushed over as well.”
Bowers told the officer the theft of the flags and moving of the headstones occurred sometime within the past three weeks.