Man arrested at Eastern Cemetery after allegedly jumping on, kicking graves

A man has been arrested at a Geelong cemetery after allegedly smashing graves and stealing flowers.

A man has been arrested at a Geelong cemetery after allegedly smashing graves and stealing flowers.

Police were called to Eastern Cemetery, near McKillop St in East Geelong, about 12pm on Tuesday.

A man has been arrested at Eastern Cemetery.

It is understood the man had allegedly randomly desecrated a number of memorials and stolen flowers from various sites in the Roman Catholic and concrete lined graves section of the cemetery.

Glass on a nearby gravesite was smashed.

The man allegedly smashed grave sites.

A 46-year-old Whittington man was placed into handcuffs and sat on a wheelie bin while he waited for officers to escort him into a waiting divvy van.

Simon Toohey was walking his dog through the cemetery when he saw the man jumping on and kicking grave stones.

“He was stealing flowers and have a right ol’ time inside the cemetery,” he said.

Mr Toohey called police, who then attended the scene.

“We made sure no one else nearby was in danger but he was keeping to himself,” he said.

An allegedly stolen black Honda sedan was parked at the cemetery and was towed away from the scene.

An allegedly stolen vehicle was towed from the scene.

Senior Sergeant Aaron Riches described the behaviour as “disgusting” and “shocking”.

“Officers were quickly deployed (to apprehend the man),” he said.

“The community thinks this behaviour is pretty abhorrent.”

Geelong Cemeteries Trust said it was aware of the damage and encouraged relatives to check on the memorials of their loved ones.

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Originally published as Man arrested at Eastern Cemetery after allegedly jumping on, kicking graves