An elderly Moe couple, who say they have been subject to a series of threatening and intimidating incidents at home and in public, have pleaded for the harassment to stop.
Simon Varekamp, a member of the Moe Cemetery Trust, said he had been the target of death threats, public displays of intimidation and a threatening letter, ever since the trust planned to remove Cypress trees from the cemetery boundary.
More recently, a number of holes were dug in the couple’s front yard, with the dirt dumped on their front porch last month, while on Sunday, the Varekamps found a dead crow in their letter box when they came home from church.
“It doesn’t make you feel very good, this has been very unsettling for me and my wife, and each incident reminds us of the last – my wife certainly takes it a bit harder than I do,” Mr Varekamp said.
“I’ve been a member of the cemetery for 50 years – but I have no say on my own – I am just one person in that trust – I don’t know why I’m being targeted.”
After an extensive consultation period, the Moe Cemetery Trust decided to remove a stretch of Cypress pines earlier this year along the cemetery boundary as part of master plan upgrades, however the move drew some criticism from members of the community.
Mr Varekamp said he strongly believed the ongoing harassment was connected with the trees’ removal.
In a public plea for the culprit to cease the harassment, Ms Varekamp wrote a letter to The Express which was published in Monday’s paper.
“(Simon) takes pride in what is achieved by the trust for the Moe Cemetery and he won’t be beaten by a disturbed person,” Ms Varekamp wrote.
“This to me seems the act of a two year-old, who did not get his way and threw a tantrum.
“You are not doing yourself or the community any good through your behaviour.”
