CLYDE BARROW GRAVE

WESTERN HEIGHTS CEMETERY VANDALIZED
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DALLAS — Vandals continue to cause problems at a historic Dallas cemetery that is the final resting place of Clyde Barrow — half of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde duo.

Barrow's tombstone has been removed in the past (it is now anchored by concrete), but now other landmarks are being ransacked and stolen.

The Western Heights Cemetery has seen better days. It is overgrown and vandals have damaged tombstones.

Recently, someone stole the entrance gate. "We were just sick," said volunteer Frances James.

The iron gate — along with the perimeter fence — were installed in the last six months, part of a $26,000 project.

"They're so dumb," James said, referring to the thieves. "They don't know it's wrought iron, not copper. They're not going to make any money."

It's frustrating for the volunteers who battle to keep things in order at Western Heights.

"It makes me angry if someone can do that to a cemetery," said volunteer Carl Struck. "These people can't help themselves."

For Struck, this is personal: 13 of his family members are buried at Western Heights, and it's where he plans to go when he dies.

Struck spends his days cleaning up trash and mowing the lawn when he can, but for every step forward, it seems there are two steps back.

"They knock this stuff down and we don't know where it is, [whether] they have broken it or whether it is stolen," he said.

It is a struggle to keep it going, but an important one to keep this piece of Dallas history intact.

The volunteers have now replaced the stolen gate with a chain, and they're working to raise money to not only to fix the fence, but to remedy some of the other problems the cemetery has seen.