St-Charles Cemetery vandals topple 170 headstones

Distraught family members surveyed the damage at a Quebec City cemetery this morning where as many as 170 tombstones were knocked over Wednesday night.

The damage at St-Charles Cemetery – one of the city's largest – totals more than $100,000, according to Quebec City police.

Lise Cloutier-Rhéaume was one of several family members who heard about the vandalism on the news and came down to see if her family members' graves were among those hit.

All of her deceased relatives have been buried in the cemetery for the past 100 years.

When she saw her mother's headstone had been knocked down, she crumbled, saying the act was "sick."

"It makes me sad, and it's shocking to me at the same time," she said. "I cannot believe that someone could be so evil that they would come attack someone who can't tell them to stop. That takes someone who is very terrible."

The cemetery has been contacting families, but Rev. Pierre Gingras, president of the cemetery's board of directors, said repairing the damage done won't be a simple task.

Only a few stones were broken, but righting toppled stones will be a significant amount of work.

Police investigators are still working in the area, and a portion of the cemetery remained taped off this morning.