Monument company helping with Kiski Twp. cemetery restoration

A Rochester monument company will help with cleaning nearly 200 tombstones that were vandalized with red spray paint last weekend at the Riverview Cemetery in Kiski Township.

After meeting with the impacted families Monday, the cemetery association's board agreed to Rome Monument's offer to help.

The work could be under way by Thursday.

Cemetery superintendent Adam Shupe said vandals may have entered the historic cemetery through a pathway gate.

The vandals targeted 199 tombstones in a cemetery section strait ahead of the gate. The oldest graves there date to 1908.

Rome Monument, a family-owned company that has been in business for four generations, has considerable experience with cleaning up after vandals.

In this case, some of the grave markers are granite, others are marble and still others are mostly brass, retired owner John Dioguardi said.

“Granite is hard, but it does absorb,” he said. The spray paint used was enamel paint, he said.

The type of paint and different tombstone materials complicate the cleanup somewhat, and it's usually best to remove the paint as soon as possible, Dioguardi said.

He has already talked with specialists from a Vermont company that provides granite for markers for a second opinion. “We believe there are answers to this, and we have to be very sensitive to the feelings of the families,” said Dioguardi, whose son and daughter now manage his company.

Dioguardi was saddened that the vandals didn't show respect to the deceased and their families.

“The people there are among those who made this country great,” he said. “Some are veterans. All were taxpayers.”

Shupe said hundreds of people showed up on Sunday to see whether their loved ones' tombstones had been vandalized and to assess the damage. They came in pickup trucks and luxury cars and everything in between to the cemetery, which is close to the Apollo border.

He fielded dozens of phone calls Monday.

“A lot of them are just hurt. And there is anger there, too,” said Heather Pettigrew of Apollo, whose grandfather and grandmother Moyer's tombstones were vandalized.

Pettigrew said some families had already scrubbed their markers.

On Tuesday, Apollo Mayor Jeff Held said there is a clear link between the Kiski Township cemetery and Apollo.

“Some people call it the Riverview Cemetery, but many simply call it the Apollo Cemetery,” he said.

Held said some graffiti found in Apollo looks like the cemetery vandalism except it's in black paint instead of red.

Apollo police are patrolling locations that might attract graffiti, and they are asking questions to help Kiski Township police, Held said.

Kiski Township police are pushing ahead with their investigation, Chief Jerrod Thompson said.

“We have a few leads and we've talked with some people,” he said.

Chuck Biedka is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4711 or cbiedka@tribweb.com.