VANDALS have desecrated a Barnsley cemetery by flattening 50 headstones and digging into two graves.
Rows of memorials were pushed forward, crushing ornaments and flowers, and a cross which stood over cremated remains was severed.
As word of Friday night's destruction swept round Staincross, shocked villagers gathered at St John the Evangelist churchyard to try to repair the damage.
St John's curate Rev Joan Crossland spent the weekend at the cemetery. She said: “Grown men were crying, people are absolutely devastated and angry. We are inviting anyone who has been affected by this to the All Souls service next Thursday when we will say prayers for them and their loved ones.”
Sharon Love, of Mapplewell, discovered that her nephew's grave had been vandalised on Sunday.
