PADUCAH, Ky. (WSIL) -- Paducah Parks and Recreation operates and maintains Oak Grove Cemetery.
Last Friday, crews from the cemetery removed some of the gravesite owners' property, now the Paducah Parks and Recreation is working to return those decorations after learning some of the families were not notified of the removal.
Kristen English represents one of 32 families that said the Oak Grove Cemetery crews removed decorations from their loved ones' gravesites without warning.
"It hurt me, because my baby has been buried here for six years, my baby's stone just got sent back February, I worked so hard to make sure things were the way I wanted them to be," said English.
English bought her son's plot six years ago, and said, the operators of the cemetery, at the time, told her she could decorate her son's gravesite as she saw fit.
"They have no thoughts and regards into how people is feeling. That's tragic, if you had a family member and you decorated things the way you wanted it to be would you want somebody to come and take your things without telling you?" said English.
Just a few months ago, new management began operating and maintaining the grounds, the Paducah Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Amie Clark said, "They had spent the last several months working to contact families to let them know that they would need to remove items that were not permitted per the cemetery guidelines."
On Tuesday, Clark said, it was brought to their attention that a couple of families had not been notified; so on Wednesday, members of the city's staff made the decision to return all of the items collected and put into storage.
English said, she's still upset.
"To come out here and to see it empty is traumatizing, that's making me relive, and retell stories. I shouldn't have to go through that. You grieve through it once, to pick out a tombstone, you grieve through it twice and you come out here to see this? This the third time, [we are grieving]," said the mother.
Xsavier Cleary is the father and co-owner of Kristen English gravesite and he agrees with English, he said, " We try to not think about it, but we relive and think about it everyday anyway, but just having to go through it and everybody having to gather back up at the baby's gravesite, you know it's kind of heartbreaking," said, the baby's father.
The Assistant Director of Paducah Parks and Recreation said, she understands the sadness the families feel and that's why they want to go back and look at what they can do to help.
