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Vandals target haunted cemetery in Pleasant Township
(by Dedra Cordle, staff writer - June 24, 2010)
Supernatural stories abound when it comes to the Little Pennsylvania Cemetery, located on London-Groveport Road.
There have been reports of strange lights and even stranger noises coming from the property. There are rumors that occultists hold secret meetings there. And there is the tale of a house that disappears and reappears in the fog.
These stories are all unsubstantiated, of course, but one thing the cemetery does have haunting its grounds are vandals.
While mowing the cemeteries recently, the Pleasant Township Road Department came across a disturbing sight - 41 headstones within the Little Pennsylvania were either broken or knocked over.
Jeff Karn, the road department's superintendent, said his crew repaired what they could on the day they saw the damage, and when they came back out two days later to finish the job, someone had knocked over more headstones.
The road department filed a report with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and asked Franklin County Metro Parks to keep an eye on the cemetery, but the township administration wanted to go one-step further. The trustees decided to purchase video cameras for the cemetery with the hope of finding the person or persons responsible for the vandalism.
"It seems we have to go through this every two or three years," said Karn.
He said that out of all of the cemeteries in the township, the Little Pennsylvania is targeted because of its haunted reputation.
"It's just that one they mess up, they haven't bothered any others."
Karn said in the past, the road department has cleaned up strings and sheets placed across the cemetery and repaired grass where someone has burned a pentagram into the ground, but this is the first time they had to repair so many headstones - some of which date back to the early 1800s.
"It now holds the record," he said dryly. "Before it was 28."
The township had to pay for the cost of repairs.
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