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County attorney: law bans willful damage to cemetery plantings but allows routine maintenance; some ambiguity remains
Summary
County Attorney Mr. Hammock told the Caroline County Burial Sites Preservation Board that Maryland law forbids willful destruction of cemetery trees and plantings but expressly allows normal maintenance such as trimming, weed removal and grass cutting, leaving some implementation questions unresolved.
County Attorney Mr. Hammock told the Caroline County Burial Sites Preservation Board on Tuesday that Maryland law criminalizes willful destruction or removal of trees, plants or shrubs in a cemetery but also expressly allows “normal maintenance,” creating ambiguity the board said it must manage in practice.
Mr. Hammock read language from the criminal law provisions discussed in the meeting: “a person may not willfully destroy, damage or remove a tree, plant or shrub in a cemetery.” He added the statute also states the prohibition “does not prohibit the normal maintenance of a cemetery or burial site, including the trimming of trees and shrubs, removal of weeds or noxious growths, grass cutting or other routine care and maintenance.”
Board members asked how to distinguish heirloom plantings (intentional plantings associated with a burial, such as an azalea planted by a family) from naturally occurring or inadvertent growths (saplings, volunteer pines from wreaths, invasive growth). Mr. Hammock said the statute treats some categories separately and acknowledged the language leaves room for interpretation; he noted that ambiguities between provisions are a frequent source of litigation and that county practice must rely on common sense and documentation when possible.
Members raised practical concerns such as how to remove large volunteer trees without damaging nearby stones, whether to use herbicides or mechanical removal, and how to document maintenance to avoid criminal liability. The board discussed guidance from nonprofit and federal sources (National Park Service, Veterans Administration) that focus on marker care and advise against certain cleaning chemicals; board members said they want any public guidance to highlight safe cleaning methods and warn against using hypochlorite (bleach) on sensitive stones.
No new regulation was adopted at the meeting; the board asked the county attorney to return with clarifications on whom the board’s recommendations should be made to and to provide statutory citations and guidance the board can use when preparing public resources.
