25 years ago: Vandals topple gravestones in historic section of Lawrence cemetery

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 16, 1986:

  • Vandals went on a destructive spree in the older portion of Oak Hill Cemetery on a recent night, toppling and shattering at least 50 gravestones and breaking in through the roof of the 69-year-old mausoleum. In a possibly related occurrence, vandals had also broken 28 trees in half at Burcham Park. The young cottonwoods had been planted about a year earlier and had grown to a height of about eight feet.
  • Lawrence attorney Lance Burr was scheduled to make a request to Lawrence city commissioners at their regular weekly meeting regarding land development. Burr wanted the commission to inaugurate some type of permanent zoning which would protect farmland north of the Kansas River from future development. “It’s our best land for growing crops; you can grow crops less expensively there,” he said. Burr had spoken out earlier against plans to build an industrial park in the Midland area north of Lawrence.