Residents: Gravestone were given, not stolen

EDGEWATER PARK, N.J. - March 13, 2008 On Tuesday, Action News reported on the removal of up to 1,000 old veteran gravestones from a backyard in Burlington Township used by the elderly homeowner for decorative purposes in his yard.

They were removed under the watchful eye of investigators from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The home of Carol Moore, an Edgewater Park resident, backs up to the Beverly National Cemetery. She had only 7 markers, but they were taken away earlier this week.

Moore says she felt sorry for the elderly Burlington Township man and says she wants the public to know the gravestones were routinely given away 35 years ago as they were replaced with new ones.

Mary Hendly of the Beverly National Cemetery says the protocol for getting rid of the stones is to break them into small pieces and recycle them.

Hendly says she wants to make sure families of those buried at the cemetery know that there are no missing stones and the ones being sought out and collected are from decades ago.