More than a dozen tombstones, some dating back to 1600, five centuries ago, were smashed inside of a historic cemetery in Brooklyn (NYC), early Tuesday.
According to security footage, a vandal split the tombstones in half, in an incident that took 20 minutes to almost destroy 500 years of history. What happened means more than damaged property for the congregation of the historic Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church, on 3931 Kings Hwy. Founded in 1654, is one of the oldest churches in North America.
“Is history. It’s a great story… so go in and smash and smash tombs. It’s really a shame that someone would do this,” said Minister De Lafayette Awkward. “It hurts us a lot because these tombstones have been here for a long time and for those relatives who are still alive, descendants, it’s going to be heartbreaking,” he said.
At least 17 Tombstones were totally destroyed. Some of the names have faded, so the church will have to go into their vault to determine who is buried under the shattered parcels.
The surveillance video obtained by NBC News
“I know that if my family were (buried) here, I would be very hurt by what I am seeing,” he commented. Although disconsolate, the minister does not have a message of hate for the person who destroyed that oasis of peace in Brooklyn, but one of forgiveness.
“We forgive him, we are still going to move on. We are a church of forgiveness. We are a church of Jesus Christ, so we forgive,” he said. “It hurts us, but we forgive them and we want to continue with the ministry.”
The NYPD is investigating and searching for the suspect, and the church is hopeful that these pieces of history can be restored. Detectives said there is no indication of a motive yet, only the total destruction of a New York City landmark.
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-CLUE (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.