GREENSBORO, N.C. — No one ever wants to go see the final resting place of a loved one being disrespected or un-kept.
But John Edmunds said that's exactly what he saw Friday at Lakeview Memorial Park in Greensboro.
He showed WFMY News 2's Itinease Mcmiller photos of grave toppers with dirt and evidence of a tractor rolling over grave toppers and one dug out of its marker and broken.
"We came out Friday to put flowers out on my wife and daughter's grave and then we found this terrific mess," Edmunds said.
"I've seen a lot in my four years since my son has been buried out here," said Gidget Stevens. "I've never seen anything quite that bad. You had 2 or 3 graves counter sunk down in the mud."
Stevens said the upkeep at Lakeview has gone downhill in the last five years.
"We mow and we weed eat, if not it’s a mess," Gidget said. "We take care of the ones around here too."
The damaged toppers are neither Gidget nor John’s but they said they must be a voice to the voiceless.
"If people like us don’t stick up for them then what you see around here is what the cemetery is going to become of," Stevens said. "Our toppers have been tore up and tore down. You go to the office and there’s always an excuse."
WFMY News 2 reached out to Lakeview’s corporate office and got answers.
"Our grounds crew was performing services in the park. They were digging a grave on Friday for a Saturday service," said Michele Stone the vice president of corporate communications with Everstory Partners. "The equipment is heavy and it caused some ruts In the park compounded with the fact that we got a lot of rain Friday night too."
We asked if this is something that commonly happens.
"We may need to take heavy equipment through the park," Stone said. "It’s something spelled out in the agreement folks sign if they purchased any plots in our parks but we try to avoid running over graves."
Stone said they work with the families to make replacements.
"We already repaired the ones that were damaged on Friday," Stone said.
After speaking with Stone she sent photos of the toppers now all cleaned up.
"We put straw down in the area sod is being delivered tomorrow," Stone said. "But if other areas need to be addressed in the future please let us know."
As for John and Gidget, they said they'll continue to do their part to honor their family and other people's memorials.