‘I Think It's Evil': Father Outraged by Vandalism of Son's Memorial

Driving by the cross on the side of Route 24 in Avon, Massachusetts, may not mean much for you, but it means the world to Tom Wasilewski.

"It's my place of peace," he explained. "I have a hard time going to the cemetery. When I go to the cross, that's where he lost his life. He spent his last moments there."

Cory Wasilewski was 20 when he was killed in a crash driving to a friend's house in February. Overnight Sunday, more pain was brought to Tom Wasilewski after someone came to his place of peace and left the cross in pieces.

"Instantly filled with rage. For anyone to do that, not just me, my son, but anyone," he said. "You see it at the graveyards, people tipping over stones. That should never happen."

Wasilewski woke up to pictures on social media showing the damage. It almost made him faint.

"That's just one disgusting thing," he said. "I think it's evil. I think it's the work of the devil."

He took it upon himself to put the cross together, piece by piece, trying to keep his son's memory alive.

Spending time by the site is cathartic for him.

"Sometimes, overnight, for hours, I'l sleep in the truck," Wasilewski said. "I'll watch the sun come up with him."

State police logged the damage, but are doubtful an arrest will be made. Wearing his son's ashes around his neck, Wasilewski says in the weeks to come, he'll install cameras to watch over the cross.

He has some words for the person who tried to tear down his son's memory.

"You did me a bigger favor than you caused me pain, because now, everyone knows Cory's story," he said. "Everyone knows that the world lost a great kid."

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