Police Investigating Vandalism At NJ Church Cemetery

FLEMINGTON, NJ (CBSNewYork) -- New Jersey police are investigating increasingly destructive vandalism at a church cemetery in New Jersey.

Investigators say 166 headstones have been uprooted, broken off or knocked over at the Flemington Presbyterian Church Cemetery since Nov. 15.

"I think it's a terrible, disgraceful thing. You know, it's sacred ground...I don't know what pleasure they get out of it," one local resident told CBS 2's Ann Mercogliano.

Big monuments have not been touched, but police say headstones -- some from the 1700s and 1800s -- were targeted.

"I felt disrespected on behalf of those people," Robin Boyle said. "I feel very bad about it."

While police wouldn't go on camera, they assured residents that they were working day and night to find out who committed the vandalism.

Besides the historical significance, people are horrified by the lack of regard for human remains and wonder what this person or persons might be capable of next.

The damaged headstones have not yet been repaired.

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