Don Sweet, owner of the Billy the Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, said the grave of Billy the Kid was found vandalized on June 16. Someone had somehow managed to topple over his 2,000 pound tombstone that sits in the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery. billy the kid 2,000 pound gravestone,
"They turned the headstone over and it broke some of the concrete," Sweet told The Huffington Post. He added, "The cemetery has never been bothered before." billy the kid's tombstone vandalized,
Born William Henry McCarty in 1859, Billy the Kid was a Wild West gunslinger who, according to legend, killed 21 men. McCarty, who later referred to himself as William H. Bonney, was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.
According to Sweet, Billy the Kids original marker was shot up or stolen long ago and the tombstone he has now has been in the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery for more than 80 years.
"It was bought in 1930, after MGM did a movie on Billy the Kid," Sweet said. "The director (King Vidor) and Johnny Mack Brown, the actor who played Billy, donated $150 for the headstone."
Other graves in the Fort Sumner cemetery were also vandalized on June 16. Whoever is responsible is suspected of breaking into Sweet's museum and stealing three antique Winchester rifles and a single-shot shotgun.
De Baca County authorities have no leads in the case, but Sweet said he suspects "young people" are responsible. He just hopes those responsible are caught soon and that none else follows in their footsteps.
"Over 20,000 people a year visit the grave, so we don't want it to be tore up or anything," Sweet said.
Source: huffingtonpost
