The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that 58-year-old Edwin L. Stancliff has been charged with petit larceny for the theft of the gravestone from St. Matthias Cemetery in the town of French Creek. The marker was recovered in Erie, Pa., following last week’s theft.

For years, St. Mary’s Cemetery in the town of South Valley in Cattaraugus County has had to deal with vandalism, including tombstone tipping, desecration and littering of mostly alcohol containers.

Gary Olson, president of the St. Mary’s Cemetery Restoration Committee of Guernsey Hollow, said members routinely have to place markers back on their graves.

“People come and knock the graves over, so we just come in and put them right back on,” Olson said Tuesday. “It’s a lack of respect. The problem, I think, is that when a lot of people die, there aren’t many who know the person or visit the grave. They need to teach people respect. … We’ve thought for a long time we need to arrest some people (who vandalize the cemetery).”

Sheriff Jim Quattrone said news of recent vandalism is “extremely disheartening.”

“Not only are these serious crimes that affect so many people, those committing the crime can potentially be sentenced to prison,” the sheriff said.

“Our cemeteries are a place to help family members in healing from their loss and remembering their loved ones, which should never be taken away from anyone by these senseless acts.”

Though Olson has been president of the cemetery association for about seven years, he said vandalism has been going on for decades.

“We’re dismayed because that cemetery has history all the way back to the origins of that community,” he said. “There are well over 200 people buried there. The cemetery has gone down in folklore, and it’s on the internet as one of the most haunted places. That’s just not true. … It’s just a place a bunch of kids go drinking.”

Indeed, St. Mary’s — also known simply as Guernsey Hollow Cemetery — has been considered a hotspot for paranormal enthusiasts. A quick internet search turns up several sites and links to videos of tours. In a 2006 profile of local cemeteries thought to be haunted, an area resident told The Post-Journal of St. Mary’s: “You may have a problem reading a lot of the grave markers because time has worn away a lot of the inscriptions and vandals have repeatedly knocked them over. I believe the reason vandals keep doing this is because the ‘ghost stories’ perpetuate.”

In March, the association held a fundraiser to aid in the re-installation of a fence surrounding the cemetery as well as for general maintenance. Olson said the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo also provided funding to have the fence repainted and installed.

“We’re knee-deep in the process of restoring the fence that used to be around the cemetery,” he said. “We hope to have it up before the snow falls. But we might have to wait until the spring.”

Members of the Northeastern Coalition for Cemetery Studies recently visited St. Mary’s and found several toppled graves and empty bottles of alcohol. The organization bills itself as a community project in Western New York aimed at cemetery preservation.

Ron Keeney and Amanda Brainard, members of NCCS, hope education outreach can limit vandalism and remind the public of people buried in the cemeteries.

“These graves are not just objects, they’re people,” Keeney said. “By vandalizing them, you’re damaging the human and telling their living loved ones that they have no value or worth.”

Keeney believes vandals use the cemetery’s rural location to their advantage, noting that there are plenty of “hiding spots.”

“There are too many stories going around about the cemetery being haunted,” Keeney said. “Amanda and I figured the cemetery could use more positive stories about the cemetery. If people were to know the history of the people buried there and even have a connection with them, maybe they’d be less inclined to mess around in the grounds.”

The cemetery was built in the early 1800s and has been a big part of the area’s history, the pair said. The latest grave is from the 1990s, Keeney said, which could mean that there are still living relatives of the person buried there.

“People need to look beyond the ghosts,” Brainard said. “They need to realize that those graves are more than just objects. They represent a person. That could be your own relative or ancestor whose grave you’re vandalizing.”

Keeney said as far as hauntings go, cemeteries should be low on the list since people don’t usually die in cemeteries. He said he hopes the cemetery will stir people into wanting to learn history and see the place in a more positive light.

“You could connect with long lost relatives,” Keeney said. “An aunt, uncle, great grandfathers or great grandmothers could be buried there. We hope that by spreading the word about what cemeteries truly represent, we can discourage people from going back this year and making a mess of things.”