Sheriff: Revenge prompted grave vandalism

LANCASTER, Ohio, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Detectives in Fairfield County, Ohio, allege a grave site at an area cemetery was vandalized by a man whose romantic overtures were rejected.

Authorities allege after an unidentified teenage girl refused to date Steven C. Locke, 21, he sought out the grave site of the teen's mother and used a sledgehammer to vandalize an urn and its bronze base, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported Saturday.

County Sheriff Dave Phalen said Locke was charged with vandalism for the Oct. 14 damage to Donna M. Brown's grave site.

"He wanted to date this girl and she wanted nothing to do with him," Phalen said. "He became upset, and in retribution destroyed the grave marker."

Phalen said Locke admitted to the crime, saying he felt he could get revenge on the teenage girl by damaging the burial site of her mother, who died in 2002.

The Dispatch said if convicted of the fifth-degree felony charge, Locke is facing as much as a year in prison.