Who would smash up a cemetery?
Well, a disgruntled recently-fired cemetery worker for one.
That, according to reports, was the motivation of a 59-year-old arrested yesterday afternoon for damaging more than 80 funeral niches at St Raphael’s Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan.
According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, the suspect, surnamed Cheng, is a cemetery employee.
Police believe the vandalism came about after Cheng’s contract was not renewed due to poor work performance, and as a result he took out his anger by desecrating more than 80 funeral niches.
He was arrested after officers reviewed the cemetery’s CCTV footage.
No urns were stolen, but dozens of urn niches had been smashed, with holes punched through the sealing slabs where the photos of the deceased are displayed.
Local media reported yesterday that the total number of damaged niches was 85 niches. Today, the final tally was reported at 89.
HKET reports that the cemetery stepped up security by increasing the number of security guards from two to four.
