The following item was taken from the Sunday, June 16, 2002 edition of the Watertown Daily Times, page G4, under the Looking Back--News From The Past column--cemetery vandalism is not a new crime by any means!
100 years Ago
June 16, 1902: It has just been discovered that the door of the old vault in the Arsenal Street cemetery, which has been closed for nearly 20 years, has been broken open, presumably by tough boys, of which there are a few in that neighborhood. The vault contained a number of old coffins and bones, the remains of bodies that that had been deposited there for interment when the vault was closed. These bones have either fallen out of the decaying caskets or have been taken out by the boys, and it is said that the boys have used them as playthings. The city property committee of the common council is investigating the matter and will probably have the bones placed in some suitable place of sepulchre.