By BI: QUEBEC: At least 170 and perhaps as many as 200 tombstones were knocked over and/or completely destroyed last night at the St-Charles Cemetery, in an unprecedented and appalling act of vandalism, says the outraged manager of the premises.

(FYI: There are five mega-mosques in Quebec City and more than 80% of the taxi drivers are Muslim…Just sayin’)

Lapresse  Tombstones were knocked onto their sides while others were destroyed upon sheer brutal impact. Robert Julien was horrified when he saw the destruction during his usual walk through the premises earlier this morning.  “This sickens me”, he confided to Soleil reporter a few hours later.

The cemetery, the largest in Québec City, was littered with epitaphs that were knocked over or broken into pieces and even tombstones were dug out.  The area vandalized is located between the St-Charles River and St-Vallier West Street.

“The extent of the damages is unprecedented for a Québec cemetery”, states Marc Pelchat – Abbot of the Québec diocese. Some of the damaged tombstones are over 150 years old while others are total losses, according to cemetery administration. The SPVQ (City of Québec Police Service) says the damages are estimated at $100,000.

“When these sacred places are no longer respected, what will be the next step?  What will happen next? “– asks Abbot Pierre Gingras, President of the Board of the St-Charles Cemetery.  “What pleasure do they have in destroying a place like this?  What is their interest?  Is it simply to destroy for the pleasure of destroying?“

So many questions without answers, especially for the families of the deceased that are affected by the extent of this significant act of vandalism.

“What hurts me the most is what the families are feeling“, says Abbot Gingras.  “Those responsible should learn – or learn again – certain values of living together as a society.  The respect of other’s property, respect for history, respect for the dead, respect of family. A society that strays from this is a society that has no future.“

The SPVQ has opened an investigation pursuant to the cemetery’s complaint.  As of now, the extent of the damages lead the police to think that many people took part in the crime.

According to cemetery officials, they do NOT intend to increase security for the premises.