The Dunedin City Council will spend up to $3200 to help repair or replace desecrated headstones at a Dunedin cemetery.
Twelve headstones were discovered either pushed, pulled or kicked over at the West Taieri Cemetery, near Outram, last month, and most were broken.
Police were investigating the incident, and a council investigation was completed last week.
Project and asset management team leader Hamish Black said the DCC would spend up to $400 on each of the eight headstones identified as being damaged.
Another four headstones had "historic damage'' and the council would not contribute to fixing those, Mr Black said.
"It's certainly not a great thing for the headstones to be damaged.
"Apart from one headstone, they can all be pinned and raised.
"We didn't have an obligation to [fix them but] it's desirable to have our cemeteries looking in the best condition,'' Mr Black said.
Health and safety was another issue the council took into consideration when deciding whether to contribute.
It posed a danger to have toppled and broken headstones lying in the cemetery, he said.
Only one of the eight headstones would need to be replaced, at a cost of about $1700.
The West Taieri Cemetery was a target for vandals because of its size and distance from Dunedin city, Mr Black said.
"It's a small cemetery.
"In this case, eight headstones [vandalised] is quite significant.''
Bill Price (69), of St Clair, originally contacted the Otago Daily Times after finding his late mother's marble headstone lying flat behind the plot, split into three pieces.
He was "more than happy'' the council had decided to help out.
Originally, he had been told it might cost upwards of $8000 to replace the headstone, Mr Price said.
He had since been quoted about $700.
"It's a bit of a relief and we're quite pleased the DCC has come to the party,'' Mr Price said.
