Appeal to fund Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery grave repairs after vandals strike

Two Toowoomba men say we owe it to the people who built our community to repair the graves in the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery that were trashed in a spate of senseless vandalism in August.

Vandals have damaged or destroyed more than 300 graves at Toowoomba's Drayton Cemetery, Sunday, August 11, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The organisers of a fundraising appeal to cover repairs to more than 140 headstones that were vandalised at the historic Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery said they were pleased to see so many individuals and community groups offer to help.

Sometime late in the evening of September 9, three teens trashed the headstones in a spate of senseless vandalism that shocked the city.

The graves range from citizens who died generations ago, to one person who was buried in the days before the incident.

The damage bill was estimated to be more than $500,000.

While the Toowoomba Regional Council owns and operates the cemetery, care and maintenance of the headstones falls to the families of the deceased.

A TRC spokesman said staff were attempting to contact every family involved but records were patched and many families had left the region.

Community member Jim O’Dea said he was saddened to think these older graves might not be repaired.

Jim O'Dea is in the early stages of launching a fund to cover the cost of repairing the graves vandalised at the Drayton Cemetery.

“It is important that they are repaired because this is Toowoomba’s history,” he said.

“You wouldn’t want to see the Empire Theatres damaged and just left there.”

Three boys were arrested a short time after the incident. One was given a police caution while the other two have agreed to restorative justice mediation where they will meet with their victims.

Along with The Chronicle columnist Greg Johnson, Mr O’Dea is working to establish a fund to restore the unclaimed headstones and those of families who cannot afford repairs.

“I just don’t want to see it left to disintegrate, as a community we are better than that,” Mr O’Dea said.

“We owe it to the people who built the early roads and buildings, who established the institutions that brought us to where we are as a region”

The pair are waiting on input from council before they start collecting money and sourcing tradespeople to carry out the repairs.

In the meantime, anyone willing to help out with organising it urged to email Mr Johnson and Mr O’Dea at: [e-mail]

A full list of damaged graves can be found here.