May 22, 2013
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) -- A sheriff in eastern Alabama is targeting vandals by placing hidden cameras in rural cemeteries.
Reports say Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones launched the cemetery camera project working with the county's Cemetery Preservation Commission. Jones says desecration of grave sites has been a problem in Lee County, with vandals smashing slabs and headstones at historic grave sites that are more than a century old.
A few months ago, the sheriff's department began hiding dozens of surveillance cameras in several rural cemeteries in the area. He says the cameras have already helped make some arrests.
Edna Ward of the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission says she hopes the graveyard cameras help put a stop to the vandalism.
