HIBBING -- The city of Hibbing had steady rain Tuesday.
"It sort of fits the mood, I guess. Everybody's a little bummed out about what happened out here," said Michael Haben, sexton of the North Hibbing Cemetery.
This sadness, he says, derives from vandalism done to nearly 100 gravestones at his cemetery last weekend. Some are old enough to display the names of Civil War veterans.
"Some are damaged, some are beyond repair," Haben said.
Sgt. Jeff Ronchetti of the Hibbing Police Department said he's upset with the situation but doesn't have much evidence to follow.
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"It's possibly something a few males or adolescents have been doing, and that's hard to follow up on when we don't have a lot of information," Ronchetti said.
After the initial shock, cemetery workers are now beginning to repair the damage.
"I would say a good 15 of them were broke right in half," said Dennis Hill, an equipment operator.
Workers plan to use glues and pins to re-adhere smaller stones. Larger stones of 500 to 1,000 pounds will require heavy equipment to stand back up.
"We can repair them, but they'll never look the same. They'll never be as nice. They're defaced," Hill said.
Haben said he's frustrated at the vandals' lack of community pride and respect. Ronchetti said he's puzzled by the vandals' destruction.
"These people have been buried a hundred years. What have they done to you?" Ronchetti said.
