A preservationist is expected to take a look at three headstones that were severely damaged by weekend vandalism at Metro's Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery.
About 20 headstones were tipped by vandals over the weekend, and crews from Metro, which owns Lone Fir, were on hand righting the markers that could easily be fixed.
But some were so badly damaged that a preservationist will need to study and fix the stones.
Vandalism is a periodic problem at Lone Fir, said Rachel Fox, the manager of Metro's cemeteries program. That ranges from headstone-tipping incidents like the one last weekend to someone lighting candles on a headstone.
"Wax is super hard to get out of stone," Fox said.
Metro and Lone Fir advocates have historically focused on increasing awareness and appreciation for the cemetery, and one of the cemetery's advocacy organizations, Friends of Lone Fir, has been trying to secure headstones through the One Stone at a Time program.
Frank Schaefer, the president of Friends of Lone Fir, said the One Stone at a Time program's goal is to restore and secure every one of the cemetery's 25,000 headstones. Many of the cemetery's headstones, Schaefer said, are already wobbly; the program tries to fix them first.
"They're cemented back in place," he said. "If these are all secured and fixed, it's going to deter it and be hard for somebody to spend that much time to physically start knocking them down one after another."
The program relies on volunteer donations to fund its work.
As for vandalism in general, Fox said Metro contracts with the Portland Police Bureau to provide overnight patrols of the cemetery. She said the fence is too easily cut to justify locking the gates at the cemetery at night, and the lack of electricity on the property makes it difficult to use security cameras to deter vandals.
"The biggest deterrent is having the community in the cemetery," she said. "The more we do our events, like the Tour of Untimely Departures – that's the best thing we can be doing."
One of those events, featuring a picnic, live music, actors and tours, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, June 27 at the cemetery. The event will also celebrate the planned Chestnut Grove cremation garden.