One supposed "existing concrete monument" had been completely shattered/destroyed by some farm equipment I believe (small bits of concrete throughout the general area)
Freeze/thaw will turn poor concrete into a pile of sand & gravel in short order.?ÿ?ÿ
The history of a monument isn't only record information.?ÿ
Found a USGS monument or two or three after being mangled by a Bush Hog type mower because the tall grass, weeds, multiflora rose, etc. had it well hidden.
Oh, sure. The ways of monument destruction are many, and varied. I just prefer to apply Hanlon's Razor ?ÿ("Never ascribe to malice that which is?ÿadequately explained by incompetence") to these matters.
Here is a concrete mon in good shape, probably placed about 30 years prior to the date of the photograph.?ÿ ?ÿ
And here is one of it's kin about a 1/2 mile down the road.?ÿ I have a number of picture of others on this same job in various states in between. Their location in heavy brush and under the right of way fence, and there being no whack marks on the steel, suggests that machinery was not to blame here.?ÿ
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Some people get their kicks destroying things.?ÿ Especially if that "thing" is inconvenient to them in some fashion.
About 30 years ago I had occasion to meet with the sexton of a good-sized city cemetery on what happened to be Halloween Day.?ÿ I asked if ever had a problem with juveniles doing weird things out there on Halloween Night.?ÿ He said that had never been a problem, then told me a strange tale.?ÿ He had made a run out there one evening for some odd reason.?ÿ He unlocked the main gate and drove the short distance to the office.?ÿ Then he heard a semi-rhythmic noise coming from somewhere in the cemetery.?ÿ He went exploring on foot and found a drunken fellow with a sledge hammer whacking a headstone.?ÿ He announced his presence and told the fellow he was in big trouble.?ÿ The fellow explained that he could do whatever he wanted because he owned it.?ÿ His wife was buried there.?ÿ He had just learned that she had been cheating on him routinely for years, right up to the time of her death.?ÿ He was getting his revenge.
I've stumbled across the red cloth once or maybe twice tops.?ÿ I figured whoever put it there ran out of the "proper" flagging material and tore up an old oil rag to put on the monument or something.?ÿ ????????
