"Seventy tombstones toppled in Delhi" was the headline of last Friday's Simcoe Reformer, reporting "one of the worst cases of cemetery vandalism ever in Norfolk."

"It's just disgusting, desecreting graves," Bert Hoofman, president of the Delhi Cemetery told the Reformer. "One section looks like a plane went down on it."

Damage was estimated at about $5,000. The Reformer reported a truck with a crane will be needed to put the stones back up while others are cracked or had their foundations damaged and will require repairs.

Delhi Cemetery is not an isolated instance. In recent years the Reformer has also had the sad duty to report vandalism in other Norfolk cemeteries. Oakwood Cemetery and Hazen Cemetery come immediately to mind.

Monday's Reformer reported that two youthful offenders have been charged with damage to Delhi Cemetery stones. Police are asking the others involved to turn themselves in.

Wednesday's Reformer reported Jack Bradfield and the staff of Bradfield Monuments in Simcoe and Peter Mauthe and staff of J&M Memorial in Simcoe had come to the rescue. They closed their businesses, brought their staffs, rolled up their sleeves and made short work of most of the damage.

"They were so disgusted by what happened they came forward and offered to fix the headstones free of charge," cemetery president Bert Hoofman told the Simcoe Reformer. "This as a godsend to us."