LITTLE ROCK -- Oakland Cemetery management is stepping up security after grave desecration in the Confederate section of the cemetery earlier this month, according to Sexton John Rains.
Vandals broke into the cemetery in the early morning on July 11 and spray painted "Black Lives Matter," "F*** Trump" and other phrases on an obelisk signifying the burial of 900 unidentified Confederate soldiers.
Stephanie Jackson, spokeswoman for Mayor Frank Scott Jr., said the Police Department will be investigating to the full extent of the law.
"Desecration of any grave is a crime, and the Little Rock Police Department is fully investigating," Jackson said.
When asked about whether taking down Confederate statues in MacArthur Park may have emboldened the vandals who hit the cemetery, Jackson said the mayor thinks the national movement against Confederate monuments has brought about a change in treatment toward Confederate imagery.
"As you're aware, people all over the U.S. and in Arkansas have called for the removal of Confederate statues," Jackson said. "The base of the Confederate Statue at MacArthur Park being vandalized is just one example. This isn't unique to Little Rock."
Rains found the damage to several burial sites including the nine unknown soldier headstones, the obelisk and an interpretive stone on the grave of one of the named Confederate soldiers.
In the nine years he has worked at the Oakland Cemetery, Rains said there had been no problems with crime in the area until the week before the Confederate cemetery incident, according to Rains.
The cemetery was able to catch two of the vandals on video with game cameras that were only put up weeks before, according to Rains. These cameras were donated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the group plans to donate more.
"[We put them up] about a week before this happened," Rains said. "It was total luck. Those were donated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. They've told us since then they're going to donate probably another 10 to the cemetery to be used all over."
The cameras the cemetery placed there were extremely effective, according to Rains, because the vandals took down and threw the cameras into the national cemetery grounds. Investigators where able to recover footage from the night showing two suspects clearly on the game camera.
"They were looking around to see if anything was watching them, and they found the cameras and threw them," Rains said. "They threw them not knowing they had little SD cards in them. They should have stolen them, but they didn't."
Rains inquired about restoring and replacing the obelisk that was damaged with chipped stone and spray paint. Insurance and other means of payment will be unavailable, and the entirety of the cost will be on the cemetery.
"I myself would rather it be replaced, because you can't restore it, so it looks right," Rains said.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans will be helping with the cost of other monuments damaged or stolen. None of the grave sites were insured, according to Rains.
"They're the ones that donated them to begin with," Rains said referring to the nine headstones.
When the vandals entered during the night, Rains thinks they came through the national cemetery, which has gates that stay open 24-hours and did not have security cameras, but there was a gate of Oakland Cemetery that had the lock cut the same night.
"Somebody that same night cut the lock," Rains said. "They didn't break or bend the gate or anything. They just cut the lock, and the gate was still shut the next day."
Footprints and tire tracks could be seen inside the Confederate cemetery area where the group pulled up a vehicle. Rains also cited many Confederate soldiers buried in the surrounding areas, before saying he thinks the cemetery was targeted.
"This little tiny Confederate cemetery -- they would have really have to have come looking for this," Rains said.
Little Rock police spokesman Casey Clark said the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
