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Historic Marker Stolen From Cycadia Cemetery

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

Tarpon Springs Police would like to know who vandalized the historic marker of Cycadia Cemetery founder Viola Beekman and stole the marble ball that rested there for 71-years.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: July 9, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS -- Police and Cycadia Cemetery officials would like to know who stole a 75-pound marble sphere from atop a monument in the municipal graveyard.

The 71-year old marker that was vandalized is a memorial to Viola Keeney Beekman. She donated property to start the cemetery in 1887.

The marble sphere stolen from atop the marker is about 12 inches in diameter, slightly larger than a soccer ball.

Long before the cemetery on the north side of Keystone Road, near U.S. 19, was acquired by the city, Beekman cared for the graveyard and kept records of early burials there, along with members of the Women's Town Improvement Association.

The marble sphere was a monument to a special woman who gave so much to the city and Cycadia Cemetery, according to John Kiwala, a town historian and genealogist and member of the Cycadia Cemetery Committee. This act of vandalism is distasteful, he said.

If the perpetrator has a sense of decency or compassion that person would return the sphere to the cemetery, Kiwala said. It is probably being used as a lawn ornament, he surmised.

Anyone who witnessed or has knowledge of this incidence should call Tarpon Springs Police Department, Kiwala said.

For more information on how the city plans to address security concerns at Cycadia Cemetery, read the July 12 North Pinellas print edition of The Suncoast News.

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