A car rolled through , Mountview Cemetery , on Saturday, destroying more than a dozen soldiers ‘ gravestones.
Within the town’s north portion, particles from a car and bits of damaged stone were seen scattered on the ground. Saturday’s fall was at least the next time a automobile had struck burial markers on the town’s grounds.
A total of 14 gravestones were destroyed, Cemetery Supervisor , Brandon Schmidt , told the Gazette in an message, while at least two people were damaged.
The vehicle came into the tomb from , Central Avenue, Schmidt said. As of Saturday evening, the , Billings Police Department , had yet to confirm whether any prosecutions had been made in connection to the accident.
The City of Billings owns and maintains , Mountview Cemetery, which consists of 65 hectares. There are two soldiers ‘ areas in the tomb. The classic marble and granite tombstones that exemplifies burial places for soldiers of , the United States , martial are supplied through the , Department of Veterans Affairs , and the office ‘s , National Cemetery Administration. Each 42-inch-tall and 230-pound up headstone is approximately 42 inches tall.
In , September 2020, a guy at the wheel of an SUV smashed through 30 soldiers ‘ gravestones at , Mountview Cemetery. The harm spurred calls from , Montana ‘s , national group to include the , VA , change the gravestones. The , VA , shipped fresh gravestones within about eight months. In 2009, a 17- yr- outdated in a delivery vehicle crashed into four tomb stones that were set in the 19th centuries, causing an estimated$ 60, 000 to$ 70, 000 in damage.
Schmidt estimated that replacing the tombstones that were damaged and destroyed on Saturday may take two to three weeks.
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( c ) 2024 the Billings Gazette
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
