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A family grieving the loss of a 23-year-old man were brought more "pain" and "trauma" after vandals desecrated graves in a Waikato cemetery.
The Cambridge community was distraught and outraged by the incident, asking for those responsible to be caught as soon as possible.
In a Facebook post, a familymember of the 23-year-old laid to rest at Hautapu cemetery on Monday said the incident was "heartbreaking".
Cars were doing skids and burnouts on Monday night in a Waikato cemetery, causing damage to the undeveloped grassed area and graveyard. Photo / Waipā District Council
"On Monday, my sister-in-law laid her son to rest here.
"We went to his funeral and we were there to witness him entering his final resting place. It was one of the saddest days of my life so far," she said.
She said she was sharing it so that someone who was involved saw it and knew "it was not okay".
"This is creating more trauma. The disregard for the family of this bright spark is astonishing and I can't imagine the pain this brought to my sister-in-law.
"The family didn't need to come to their son's grave the next day and see that destruction.
"It's just retraumatising. The fact they drove over the person's grave next to where he was rested was just despicable."
The distraught family of a young man laid to rest at the cemetery on Monday has called the incident heartbreaking and disgusting. Photo / Waipā District Council
Waipā District Council has started repairs at Hautapu cemetery but says it would take months to get it in shape.
The council said it estimated $3000 as the cost of the damage which would come out of its general maintenance budget.
Community services manager Brad Ward said he expected it would take months to repair the damage, given the colder winter months.
News of the damage at the cemetery had reached local contractors and suppliers, including Cambridge-based PGG Wrightson Turf and Parklands Turf Ltd, who offered to supply free grass seed and fertiliser and sow the seed, Ward said.
"We've had a huge response from the community. Its obvious people are generally sickened by what's happened.
"To have two companies reach out to us quickly, offering their product and services speaks volumes."
Ward said the focus was on getting the cemetery back up to scratch as soon as possible.
"These are precious, sacred areas that are valued by our community, and we won't have them ruined by idiots."
Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in relation to the incident.
He will appear in Hamilton District Court on Friday.
He faces one charge of intentional damage and one of sustained loss of traction in relation to a subsequent incident on a public road. His car has been impounded.
Hautapu cemetry was vandalised on Monday night, cars were doing burnouts on an undeveloped grassed area and two recent graves were run over. Photo / Waipā District Council
Yesterday, Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest called the vandals, "scumbags" and said he was "utterly appalled – beyond disgusted – by what's happened".
"We will be working alongside police and doing all we can to find out who was responsible. And when we do, I hope they throw the book at them. As far as I'm concerned, they are scumbags."
RSA district president James Hill had said the RSA was "extremely disappointed by the disrespectful act" that also damaged parts of the Hautapu Services Cemetery.
