Maxdale Cemetery targeted by vandals, tombstones missing

For years the Maxdale Cemetery in Killeen has been the target of vandals.

This weekend a tombstone from the late 1800's went missing from the cemetery and those who care for it say enough is enough.

"It’s bothersome that some people don't have respect for others families," said President of the Maxdale Cemetery Association, John Kuczek.

Kuczek was placing flags on Saturday when something on the ground caught his attention.

"We noticed that there was a square hole on the ground where someone had taken a tombstone," said Kuczek.

Kuczek verified cemetery records and confirmed a tombstone was, in fact, missing from the grounds.

"This is a pretty heavy piece of stone that someone lugged out of here. It's not just something you can pick up and put in your bag and walk away with," said Kuczek.

Kuczek said in the last four years four tombstones have gone missing.

And says dozens of other have been cracked and pushed over.

"These markers are people's eternal resting place and they're being destroyed," said Kuczek.

Despite placing warning signs for trespassers, Kuczek said people who believe the cemetery is haunted continue to break in.

"It's become an amusement park, this is a cemetery, it's not for people's entertainment," Kuczek said.

He wants people to stop vandalizing the cemetery.

"I hope parents and children understand that this is people's families, these are loved ones," Kuczek said.

In the meantime, he asks those who took the tombstone to think of the family of who it belongs to and return it.

"Families bury their dead, they put markers so that future generation can have memories of them, but now people will not be able to know about this grave because the tombstone from the 1800's is gone," said Kuczek.

A report with the Bell County Sheriff's Office has been filed.

And extra security will be added to patrol the area.

Kuczek is offering a reward for any information that can help find the tombstone.