By Carol Britton Meyer

Former Hull resident Cindy Deegan is seeking answers to what she refers to as “the desecration of [her] parents’ graves” at Hull Village Cemetery by a group of volunteers who said they had permission to “clean up” veterans’ gravesites.

**BEFORE AND AFTER.** Cindy Deegan is seeking answers to what she refers to as the ‘desecration’ of her parents’ graves at Hull Village Cemetery. Last fall, a group of volunteers removed bushes and other landscaping, saying that they had permission from the town to clean up veterans’ gravesites. [Photos courtesy of Cindy Deegan]

She recently asked The Hull Times to look into the situation after earlier contacting the town manager and DPW director.

While living in Hull, Deegan decorated her parents’ graves with seasonal flowers. Since moving to Florida 20 years ago, Deegan and her husband have visited the site two or three times a year – weeding, cleaning up the area, and trimming the bushes.

However, Deegan was unpleasantly surprised during a visit to her parents’ graves last December to find the bushes ripped out and other damage. With assistance from her husband and a couple of cemetery workers, 2.5-gallon buckets of dirt were brought to the site to fill in the dug-up areas.

According to the Hull Police Department’s weekly log, residents called police on Sunday, November 5 to report trees and bushes being cut down in Hull Village Cemetery. An officer reported speaking with a member of the group who said they were “cleaning up veterans graves and have permission from the town to do so,” according to the police report, but later agreed to stop work.

After contacting the town manager’s office in December, Deegan told The Hull Times that she received a letter in January, signed by William M. Fleck, offering an apology and noting that “our goal, as volunteers, was to locate and clean up veterans’ gravesites.”

Fleck noted in the letter that at one point he was out of town and that he called “the superintendent” and was informed that the memorial bushes had been cut and that he didn’t know “who cut the memorial shrubs and plantings. I am truly sorry I was not there to stop it.”

The “official town manager envelope is postmarked Jan. 24, 2024,” Deegan said, noting that Fleck’s letter was mailed in an envelope printed with the town manager’s office as the return address.

On April 3, Deegan sent a letter to the town manager and DPW director asking for an explanation and who the responsible parties are, noting that several other graves were also affected.

After following up again by sending an email to all five select board members on April 18, Deegan heard back from Chair Greg Grey within an hour with an apology for the delay “in anyone getting back to you. Many graves during that period of time also experienced what your family did unfortunately and we apologize for this. A group of people who thought they were doing a good thing without permission were stopped once we were made aware of the situation. They have been spoken to about this and have admitted that they should not have done any work up there. I will follow up with the town manager to see what we are doing moving forward.”

Select board member Jason McCann also responded to Deegan’s recent email, saying he was “very, very sorry to hear of your experience” and that he was aware of Grey’s reply.

“We are looking into next steps,” McCann said.

The Hull Times reached out to Town Manager Jennifer Constable for information who is responsible for the damage done at the cemetery, and next steps to rectify the issue and we await her response.

“I am going to get to the bottom of this if it’s the last I do,” Deegan said in an email. “I want my parents’ graves restored to what [they were] before – and I want the responsible party/parties to be held accountable for the damage that was done at their site.”

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