A disturbing sight greeted visitors at Ottawa Park and Oak Hill Cemetery off Maybee Road in Independence Township.
Deep, muddy ruts marred the landscape, Monday and Tuesday, and several headstones were out of place.
Cemetery worker Pablo Cruz said the damage was accidental, caused when crews had trouble digging a new grave.
Cruz said some headstones had to be moved in order to avoid damaging them. He heard a rumor on a news station that there was a body on site near where the work was being done, but that is not true.
“There are no bodies,” he said. “We had to call the family and let them know we would have to store their family member’s body until we can get up to the plot later in the spring.”
As Cruz spoke, a woman could be seen in her car with a distressed look on her face, staring at the displaced stones on the hill.
Asked if she had a loved one buried in the work area, Kim Charters said several family members are laid to rest in the work area.
She said Cruz assured her everything would be fixed.