Family members are in shock after they say their son’s gravesite at the historic African American Burial Cemetery off Belmont Ridge Road and Harry Byrd Highway was vandalized.
That gravesite belonged to the son of the Loudoun County NAACP chapter president, Pastor Michelle C. Thomas.
"How much hate do you have to have for somebody to smash their memorial into pieces," Thomas said. "Fitz is the first African American to be buried at Belmont, who was born free, so he sends a message of hope. And to have this happen to his burial ground is not just disrespectful, it’s dishonoring of the living and dead."
The burial site was formerly known as the Belmont Enslaved Cemetery, before the Loudoun County Freedom Center was gifted the land and changed the name.
Monday, Thomas says she and her husband came to visit their son Fitz's grave, when they made the discovery.
Thomas tells 7News the couple noticed that the rocks Fitz's Jewish friends had stacked on top, as part of their own cultural tradition, had been knocked off.
Thomas also pointed out it appears some of the rocks may have been smashed, while a charred stick suggested someone may have tried to start a fire on the gravesite.
The gravesite damages weren't the only ones Thomas spotted.
In another part of the cemetery, Thomas says someone stole money from a memorial where visitors would leave bills under a rock.
"Under this rock, was dollar bills, they also had fives, tens, twenties--the fact that they took all the money is just disgusting," Thomas said.
A decorative basket in another area was found upside down in a pool of water, along with a discarded wine bottle.
"They just tossed it, they just chucked it over into a dry pond," Thomas said.
Finally, Thomas says a vase standing by the historic schoolhouse on the property was thrown into the forest and broken apart.
"I expect everybody to show up for this one," Thomas said. "Because if people cannot respect the dead, they’ll never respect the living."
In response to her discovery Monday, Thomas called the sheriff.
She says Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman and Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj visited the site Tuesday morning.
7News confirms the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is now investigating the incident, and Thomas says detectives did take pieces of evidence with them from the scene.
Wednesday morning, a group will gather to pray at the site. Thomas says, if this apparent vandalism was an action of hate, she wants to meet it with unity.
"I don’t think this is the overwhelming majority, it only takes a few bad people to spoil it for everybody else," Thomas said.
"Where you thought you could upset us, no you can only unite us.
"Hate can’t divide people, unless you let it."
Thomas now plans to raise money for cameras to add to the property through donations to the Loudoun Freedom Center.