How sentimental items were thrown away during deep clean of Llano cemetery

LLANO, Texas (KXAN) — Some Llano residents were upset when the city began removing flowers and other mementos from grave sites and piling them into dumpsters.

The City of Llano said that during a deep clean of the cemetery, city crews removed many items around the gravestones; however, some were sentimental items families did not want to be removed.

“It appears most of our problem was due to two factors. First, we believe there was a lack of communication on the city’s part in informing our citizens what we intended to do,” the city said in a social media post. “The second factor was caused by our failure to educate our staff and the public about what is permissible at the cemetery and what is not permissible.”

To prevent this from reoccurring, the City of Llano issued a reminder to its staff and the public about what is allowed in the cemetery.

According to a city ordinance, fresh-cut flowers, plantings and artificial arrangements set into permanent containers on the foundations are permitted while flowers, plantings and artificial arrangements that are unsightly will be removed.

The exceptions when more items are allowed are holidays such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Christmas and Easter; however, those decorations would need to be removed no later than two weeks after the event.

The city said it would also post on its Facebook page and future utility bills when it planned to do another deep clean of the cemetery to give the public time to remove items they want to preserve.