Some press for those of you that hunt Cemetaries

[Wandering Karl]

http://www.timesnews.net/Our-History/2019/04/10/Reward-offered-for-return-of-Civil-War-headstones-stolen-from-Bulls-Gap-cemetery.html?ci=stream&lp=2&p=
"The trespassers apparently used a metal detector to search for artifacts."


Disgusting. Doesn't really matter if its true or not, eh? Its still a reflection on our hobby.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Did anyone else here notice the shift ? The whole article was about stolen grave head-stones, right ? Ok, think REAL hard : Is a metal detector needed to find a grave-stone ? No. Of course not. Anyone with normal vision can walk out into a graveyard and see and read and select a headstone to steal. Right ?? No metal detector needed. Right ?

So why the mention of "metal detectors " ? Because ....... upon the discovery of the missing head-stones, the persons then looked around and said they saw "holes".

I think, and have personal knowledge of how this is possibly a mistaken connection/notion. Because if/when someone goes to "scour a place" (after "missing headstones"), they can envision and think they see ALL SORTS OF NEFARIOUS STUFF . Normal ground disturbances (gophers, cleat divots, etc...) that no one would ever have noticed before, nor given a moment's thought to. But given the other stuff, will mentally chalk up anything they see to "dastardly md'rs".

This happened at a certain federal historic sensitive monument near me. Which has a museum that I docent at. And one day, ... an md'r was booted. And the word put out to us docents (and the powers-that-be there) to "B.O.L.". And within a week or two, reports of "holes" and "markers" came through the email chain, as supposed "proof of more md'ing".

Lo & behold, the mystery was solved later. Boyscouts who were practicing their GPS geocaching, and planted targets, put down markers, etc.... NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH MD'ing . But as you can see, when imaginations run wild, and everyone starts "looking for smoking guns", you can imagine that any disturbed turf is "dastardly md'rs".

I'm not saying that there wasn't necessarily md'rs there. But .... I have a sneaking suspicion that the theft of headstones merely started a few persons "looking for assassins under rocks" and seeing "smoking guns" in anything they subsequently saw.

 

[Wandering Karl]

Yeah, I noticed that too. Personally, it looks to me like there are 2 sets of thieves here; the headstone thieves and the hole diggers. And regardless of whether the suppositions are true, this is Bad Press for MD because of what other cemetery diggers/graverobbers have done in the past. We shoot ourselves in the foot.

 

[vlad]

.....from dogs, possums, raccoons, armadillos and squirrels (and crayfish in some areas) is unbelievable.
And trying to tie in a metal detector to missing gravestones is insane. (statues from very old graveyards go missing too because they sell for high dollars
and NO detectors are involved.)
But don't say its 'red' squirrels or some democrat will scream "Яussia" and demand an investigation.
......and is about as plausible as using a detector......to 'find' a tombstone at a known gravesite.

 

[Dancer]

Personally, I could not take being exposed for hunting Cemeteries. Just ain't worth it to us.

 

[vlad]

n/t

 

[Wandering Karl]

Yeah, we got some good folks in our hobby:

http://www.timesnews.net/Our-History/2019/05/07/Civil-War-headstones-stolen-from-Hawkins-cemetery-returned-and-back-in-place.html?ci=stream&lp=3&p=

As an aside, it is illegal by Tennessee state law to dig within 10' of a grave. Permission from the landowner makes no difference, it is still a crime.

 

[Wandering Karl]

Oh, and I can't speak for other folks, but I can certainly tell the difference in recent dirt holes dug by detectorists vs those dug by coons/squirrels/etc. Its a rare coon that cuts a plug or attempts to fill his hole back in.