MUSKEGON, Mich. -- The Olson family in Muskegon County is upset after an unpleasant Easter surprise. When the family went to visit their grandfather's grave site, they discovered his headstone had been knocked over.
"It's not how you treat where a human being is resting forever," said family member Kyle Olson.
Olson said that at first, he could tell something was different in the area of the headstone. "We saw these tracks, and then, as we were walking up, I saw all of this dirt. Then, to walk up and to realize that's his. I mean, it was disappointing."
"In the moment you are shocked, and you are sad. And so, we tried to figure out what happened," said Olson.
Olson called the city to try to figure out what happened, thinking maybe the headstone was targeted by vandals. The city, which operates the Lakeside Cemetery, said vandalism is rare at that location and that the head stone was knocked over by crews who recently buried someone else next to Olson. They added that at the time the headstone was covered in snow.
The damage has been placed on their list of needed repairs, but the Olson family is not happy with that.
"You realize that there is a problem, again assuming it's an accident, you drop what you are doing and you fix it right then. Or you tell someone, you have some urgency to take care of the problem," said Olson.
George Olson passed away in May 2008. He joined the U.S. Army during World War II when he was just a teenager and received the Purple Heart.
"It's just really unfortunate that you think that here is someone who was a World War II vet, he was a prisoner of war for 11 months," said Olson.
The City of Muskegon said that Monday is the first day of the season that their grounds crews are once again making repairs around city-run cemeteries. The city also said that they have the utmost respect for anyone buried in their cemeteries and also their loved ones.
"This is a place where people come to remember their family members," said Olson. "I mean, we remember them in pictures, we remember them in memories. But, this is a place that people visit to pray and to ponder and to think about those times."
