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Woman claims ceramic angels placed on loved ones' graves thrown out during spring cleaning


A ceramic angel is broken following spring cleanup at St. Mary’s Church in Bristol. (WJAR)
A ceramic angel is broken following spring cleanup at St. Mary’s Church in Bristol. (WJAR)
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Loved ones told NBC 10 News on Wednesday that a church crossed the line when spring cleaning its cemetery.

Staff at St. Mary’s Church in Bristol said twice a year, they clean up the landscape, removing Christmas decorations to make space for spring and Easter.

One woman said angels were removed from her loved ones' graves.

When NBC 10 News visited the site, they found flowers, angels and seasonal decorations tossed in a pile next to a full dumpster.

Angela Correia said when she went to visit the graves of her older brother and grandmother recently, one of their special ceramic angels from Canada was missing.

“My brother was in a motorcycle accident about four years ago,” said Correia.

She showed NBC 10 News what her brother’s tombstone was before and what it looked like after the cleanup.

“They took the top of my brother's angel off, who's Nathan Correia, and threw it all out,” she said.

The church said it was part of its biannual cleanup, explicitly stated in rules created in 2004.

It said in spring, summer and fall, decorations are permitted from March 1 to Dec. 1 and that winter and Christmas decorations are allowed from Dec. 1 to March 1.

“They do not state that you're not allowed to have anything on the tombstones, but the cleaning crew cleaned it all off, angels and everything, they even broke it,” said Correia, “I think they could have placed everything nice and neatly because these are again our loved ones, instead of a pile of disgrace which looks to be trash.”

The church said it’s willing to sit down and talk with anyone who’s concerned about the cleanup, something Correia said her mom took them up on.

“[They] did offer to pay my mother for what was damaged and what we no longer can get back, but it's not about the money,” she said, “Make it right, make sure this doesn't happen again, make sure this company understands you're not allowed to touch the tombstones.”

The church acknowledges that staff had a heart-wrenching meeting with Correia’s mother.

Staff said after they met with the groundskeeper first thing Tuesday morning to go over complaints they received, they made some demands that a moratorium on removing flowers from vases is to stop immediately.

When asked about removing the angels, the groundskeeper explained that when the angels become faded or disintegrate, he would remove them.

The church believes the groundskeeper understands the hurt that was inflicted on families.

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