MOUNDVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) — Dozens of Moundville residents are voicing their grievances after hundreds of flowers were removed from graves and dumped in the trash at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Carolyn Elliott, whose husband and son are buried at the cemetery, is just one of many who was upset to learn that gravesite flowers were tossed in the trash.

“I don’t like it because that’s how you celebrate and honor your dead loved ones, you put flowers on them to [remember] them,” Elliott said. “I think it’s wrong for anyone to take anything off graves and toss them in the trash. It’s not right.”

CBS 42 was told that in the weeks prior to Mother’s Day, flowers are removed to avoid clutter. The rules also state they cannot be placed on the ground. We reached out to cemetery staff for an interview but nobody responded to our request.