UPDATE:

We received the following response from Lisa Jensen at the City of Wichita Falls:

I  contacted the Cemetery Supervisor and he says that the stones have been that way for years.  Vandalism happens in the cemetery more than we would like.  We are not a perpetual cemetery so it is up to the family's to fix any damage.

Wichita Falls oldest cemetery, Riverside, has suffered significant damage to a number of headstones. It's not clear how much of the damage is old or recent, but Julie Coley of Historical Tours of Wichita Falls says she thinks City of Wichita Falls maintenance workers could have caused some damage with lawn mowers:

A walk around the cemetery will show you the mower damage. So many stones are damaged, not just the few pictures I have, there are hundreds out there that are broken along the edges from being hit. When I complained to Jack Murphy about 7 years ago, he was the one who told me that they used weed killer around the stones and never let the mowers get close.

We've reached out to Lisa Jensen at the City of Wichita Falls for comment on the matter. Riverside Cemetery saw it's first burial in 1879 and many of our city's founding fathers are laid to rest there.

Riverside Cemetery grave marker damage

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