Sometime during the week of the 21st, a person or persons went to the Mt. Holly Cemetery on the Old Latta Highway and desecrated 5 grave sites. This person or persons removed the Cross of Honor from the graves of Alexander K. Parham, C. W. Davis, William D. Carmichael, A. J. Walters and James Robert Watson. These Crosses of Honor were set in concrete and four of the five were broken off at the top of the concrete. The cross at the William D. Carmichael grave was undermined by fire ants and the cross and the concrete was removed. A few days later the cross at the grave site of Albert P. Edwards was broken off and removed. The Capt. Andrew T. Harllee Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans put many hours into restoring this cemetery and placed the Crosses of Honor on the graves of these Confederate Veterans.
The South Carolina Code of Laws Title 16-17-600. Sub section (B) It is unlawful for a person willfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:
(1) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, graveyard, tomb, mausoleum, Native American burial ground or burial mound, or other repository of human remains;
(2) deface, vandalize, injure, or remove a gravestone or other memorial monument or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, Native American burial ground or burial mound, memorial park, or battlefield; or
(3) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a park, Native American burial ground or burial mound, or other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a deceased person or group of persons. A person violating the provisions of subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
Should the person or persons guilty of this desecration come forward with restitution, it will be forgiven. However, if they can be found otherwise, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Should anyone have any information pertaining to this despicable act, please contact the Dillon County Sheriff Department, or Larry Jones @ 843-841-0838 – 843-845-2582 or Artie Quick @ 843-774-6821.
