Cemetery suffers rash of vandalism By JEFF MINOR/Of the Gazette Staff DEKALB, Texas-Police are seeking leads in another round of cemetery vandalism at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in the Wards Creek community. Allen Cooper, a DeKalb resident who has relatives buried in the rural cemetery, said the site is prone to vandalism because of its seclusion. "They have pretty well torn it up once or twice before," Cooper said. "But sometime, evidently since the rain last week, they've gone in there and knocked over about every headstone in the cemetery." Almost every headstone in the 80-plot cemetery has either been shattered or toppled. Cooper said family members of the deceased provide annual upkeep for the cemetery and are attempting to construct a metal gate at the entrance to prevent easy access. The cemetery is located off Farm to Market Road 561, about 10 miles south of DeKalb. A few years ago, the tombstone marking the gravesite of Cooper's grandfather was retrieved from a nearby lake. The tombstone has since been restored, but was toppled during the recent incident of vandalism. Anyone with information about vandalism at the cemetery should contact the Bowie County Sheriff's Office at 798-3149. -Jeff Minor