By Stan Welch
The Pine Lawn Cemetery, and other property at the Pelzer Church of God, was vandalized last weekend. An incident report provided to The Journal by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office indicates that approximately two thousand dollars’ worth of damage (estimated) was committed Saturday night.
Deputy C.G. Darnell filed an incident report that indicated spray painting to church property occurred. But additional reports from Dianne Lollis, chairman of the Pine Lawn Cemetery committee, indicate that headstones in the new cemetery were also tipped over, with at least one being damaged beyond repair.
According to Lollis, the spray painting of a vulgar, disrespectful phrase was discovered by Pelzer COG pastor Ronald Chavis, who filed a police report. Subsequently, a family member visited the cemetery and discovered the damage to the headstones.
Lollis, the head of the Pelzer Heritage Commission, who owns the historic Pine Lawn cemetery, said that the more secluded cemetery escaped any damage. “One of the blessings that came from this awful situation was that a large number of folks turned out Monday to restore the cemetery, and to clean up the grounds.”
She also added that Royale Goodwin, who recently opened a business called Bee Clean, LLC, in Williamston, not only removed the crude graffiti from the church building at no cost, but also cleaned several headstones as well.
The Pine Lawn Cemetery, and other property at the Pelzer Church of God, was vandalized last weekend. An incident report provided to The Journal by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office indicates that approximately two thousand dollars’ worth of damage (estimated) was committed Saturday night.
Deputy C.G. Darnell filed an incident report that indicated spray painting to church property occurred. But additional reports from Dianne Lollis, chairman of the Pine Lawn Cemetery committee, indicate that headstones in the new cemetery were also tipped over, with at least one being damaged beyond repair.
According to Lollis, the spray painting of a vulgar, disrespectful phrase was discovered by Pelzer COG pastor Ronald Chavis, who filed a police report. Subsequently, a family member visited the cemetery and discovered the damage to the headstones.
Lollis, the head of the Pelzer Heritage Commission, who owns the historic Pine Lawn cemetery, said that the more secluded cemetery escaped any damage. “One of the blessings that came from this awful situation was that a large number of folks turned out Monday to restore the cemetery, and to clean up the grounds.”
She also added that Royale Goodwin, who recently opened a business called Bee Clean, LLC, in Williamston, not only removed the crude graffiti from the church building at no cost, but also cleaned several headstones as well.
