Hyatt Family Headstone Vandalized

A tombstone marking the remains of one of the Hyatt family, namesake of our fair city as well as Hyattstown, was one of 20 damaged in a dramatic act of cemetery vandalism in New Market, Md., according to reports. 

The Frederick News-Post reports the vandalism was discovered on Monday, March 19 by a groundskeeper at the New Market United Methodist Church, which maintains the cemetery near the intersection of Old New Market Road and North Alley in Frederick County. 

Cemetery Treasurer Michael Sponseller told the News-Post that the vandals dealt between $30,000 and $50,000 in damage to the historic cemetery over the weekend. 

WJLA-TV reporter Ben Eisler visited the scene yesterday and revealed that one of the headstones, an elaborate colonnaded white stone memorial, bore the name Hyatt.

Sponseller told WJLA that the damage to the Hyatt stone was estimated at between $8,000 to $10,000. Eisler's report did not say who specifically was memorialized by the Hyatt stone, only that it was related to the Hyatt family whose members founded Hyattsville and Hyattstown.

Frederick County Sheriff's are seeking tips from anyone with information about the vandalism. Meanwhile, church, cemetery and community members have begun to look for ways to to finance and execute repairs.