Church officials said that an unknown vehicle ran the stop sign at the end of Starnes Road, crashed through a line of state highway signs and the cemetery's wrought-iron fence, before veering to the left and knocking over Nancy Williams' tombstone. Instead of backing out of the cemetery, the driver drove over an adjacent section of fence, across a dirt road and through a neighbor's yard before heading north on Harmony Church Road. There were no witnesses to the event, but the vehicle's tire tracks remain. There have been five previous incidents like this in the past five years, Pastor Derek Yelton said.
Church members say enough is enough.
They want the state to do something to protect the historic cemetery, where the church has held a Memorial Day ceremony for decades. The cemetery holds the remains of a number soldiers from the Civil War, World War II, Vietnam and possibly even one Revolutionary War veteran. Yelton said he recently wrote Gov. Jim Hodges pleading with him to do something. The church wants the state to install warning signs, speed humps or even a safety rail between the cemetery and the intersection of Starnes and Harmony Church roads. Not just because of the damage done to the cemetery, but because it's just a matter of time before someone gets hurt.