Six-year-old Avery Lane of Maine died of Influenza and was buried in a local cemetery aligned with the Quaker faith. Now, the young girl’s grave has been vandalized, with her family worried that it was the result of decorations not in keeping with the religious views linked to the cemetery.
Avery Lane’s parents adorned her final resting place in Fairfield, Maine, with a colorful pinwheel, wind chimes and other small tributes to the child they lost in December 2012. A small bench also sits beside her headstone, where her family can sit and visit the grave site.
“Detectives are now investigating whether Avery’s grave was targeted because the lovingly decorated site, which is in a Quaker cemetery, isn’t in line with the Quaker tradition of simplicity, Fairfield Police Chief Thomas Gould confirmed”, here.
Reports indicate that a wind chime was “knocked down and broken and the pinwheel had been removed.”
Deputy Pierce told the Press Herald that he was working on December 11, 2012 when Avery’s father called police that she was having respiratory problems from the flu. The first grader died in Deputy Pierce’s arms.
The deputy, who just returned from an eight-month tour in Afghanistan with the Nation Guard, said he sobbed when he found the damage to the little girl’s grave site.
Avery’s mother, Tabitha Souzer, replaced the broken items Monday. When she went back that night, she discovered her daughter’s grave had been vandalized once again.
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