Only On 9: Man Devastated To Find Vandals Desecrate His Wife's Grave In Rosemead

ROSEMEAD (CBSLA.com) —  A man is devastated to find his wife's grave has been desecrated in Rosemead.

It's a disturbing case of vandalism and a story that is Only On 9.

Jo  Fernandes lost his wife Rose but found a new commitment -- going to her grave and making it a beautiful, lush place.

Tragically, he tells KCAL9's Peter Daut, that someone has come along and made his pain worse.

On a recent visit, he found all the work he had done destroyed.

It was hours of work to repair the damage. He planted and cared for the grave in the year since Rose died of cancer.

"You gotta have respect in a place like this," Fernandes says.

He took  cellphone video Wednesday at Savannah Memorial Park Cemetery in Rosemead.

"Pure vandalism," he said.

He discovered flowers and flags on Rose's grave had been ripped out and dumped.

"I'm very distraught," he said.

Many of the plants were smashed and destroyed. To his wife he could only say one thing about the vandalism.

"I'm sorry Rose."

Daut first met Fernandes four months ago after the cemetery installed drought-tolerant landscaping at the historical 5 and one-half acre site.

But Gernandes turned his wife's grave into an oasis. He took a pail of water to the garden he planted nearly every single day.

He believes the vandals may have been 'drought shamers,' outraged. perhaps, that Rose's grave consumes more water than the other plots.

"Why do you have to come into a cemetery of all places? It just felt like someone had taken a knife and cut out what was in here," he said pointing at his chest.

Fernandes says he is now determined to make Rose's grave even more beautiful and lush than ever.

"So that she'll know that my love hasn't died and it continues to grow. In fact. I love her more now than I did before," he says.

Fernandes says he contacted Sheriff's Deputies, but did not file a report.

He told Daut he now hopes to bury Rose somewhere else.