Grass covers gravestones in Wilmington cemetery
WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) -- Dismayed family members are pushing for the cleanup of a Wilmington cemetery after finding overgrown weeds and tall grass.
It's so bad at the Riverview Cemetery, the grave markers are barely visible.
The 42-acre property is the final resting place for some 36,000 people, including Brandi Alexander's grandfather.
"Sydney Lorenzo Morris fought in World War II, was - I believe - a sergeant when he left the Army, and this is what he fought for? This is what he did, to come and rest here?" she said.
Alexander noticed the problem on Memorial Day.
"I didn't know I needed a machete or a hatchet or something to get to his grave. I couldn't even see his plate. That was heartbreaking," she said.
Riverview Cemetery wasn't always this way. A spokesperson says up until April, inmates at a local prison were contracted to keep the grounds clean. But due to an officer shortage, that program has ended.
"If you take care of the grass every two weeks you would not have this problem," Alexander said.
Cemetery officials say each lawn cut would cost an estimated $5,000, which the volunteer-run organization says it just can't afford.
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