Cops: Couple on Skateboards Vandalized President's Grave

'Extreme vandalism' carried out at Ford gravesite
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2019 2:53 AM CDT
Cops: Skateboarders Defaced Gravesite of Former President
Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses after placing flowers at the grave of President Gerald R. Ford and Elizabeth Bloomer Ford, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, in Grand Rapids, Mich.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

It's not clear whether they were random vandals or persons with a grudge against the 38th president, but a couple in Michigan could be in very serious trouble for defacing the gravesite of former President Gerald Ford and wife Betty Ford. Police in Michigan say the young man and woman arrived at the Grand Rapids grave on skateboards last week and proceeded to carry out "extreme vandalism," NBC News reports. Police say the man tried to rip out letters from panels reading "Lives Committed to God, Country, and Love," while the woman could be seen kicking her skateboard into the panels, reports the AP. The grave is at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

"We look upon this site as an important site," says Joel Westphal, deputy director of the presidential library. "This is a presidential gravesite, and we're not happy." Police say the couple could face larceny charges over the March 27 incident, MLive.com reports. The letter "e" from "Committed" is missing and will cost around $400 to replace, authorities say. Ford, who became vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and became president when Richard Nixon stepped down the following year, died in 2006 at the age of 93. His wife, who founded the Betty Ford Center for addiction treatment, died in 2011. (More Gerald Ford stories.)

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