The "Old Greenville Cemetery" is the oldest and most historic burial ground in Muhlenberg County, with tombs dating back several generations.

"Thursday afternoon, Thursday night, Friday morning someone come through the cemetery and destroyed some of the tombstones, headstones," says Greenville Police Officer, Mike Robinson.

"At best guess, we have 25 old stones that have been damaged. Some beyond repair," adds Greenville City Administrator, Ben Van Hooser.

The history of much of this town lies within the acres of the "Old Greenville Cemetery".

"In this cemetery, there are a number of founding fathers that are buried here. We also have buried in this cemetery, the claim to fame for the city of Greenville. The hero of the War of 1812," notes Van Hooser.

Police were notified of the vandalism by a visitor to the cemetery who came to get names off of the tombstones.

Van Hooser says history like that may now be lost forever.

"Its gonna hurt in terms of people being able to visit history to collect information from these stones as it relates to Muhlenberg County and the founding of the city of Greenville," says Van Hooser.

"The community's pretty upset about it, wanting to know what's going on... what happened," notes Robinson.

Now, nothing more than broken stones, the city is beefing up security at the cemetery.

It also hopes to catch the culprits and somehow restore the history that now appears to be gone for good.

"Some of the stones, it appears, will be beyond repair. We will lose them forever. There are other stones and monuments we are hoping to repair and re-mount," Van Hooser states.

The city of Greenville is offering a $500 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

If you have any information... you are urged to call Greenville Police's Central Dispatch at (270) 338-2000.