Marie Laveau's Tomb in St. Louis Cemetery Has Been Painted Pink!

Two weeks ago, in the middle of the night, someone sneaked into the cemetery and painted the tomb, tour guide Renee Dodge said, but she didn't think the person had any malicious intent.

 

"The person really came in to paint over the thousands of thousands of "X"'s all over this tomb," she said. "And that's the real desecration."

Decades ago, someone started a rumor that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their "X," and leave Laveau an offering, Dodge said. 

"I'll tell, you, I don't have a problem with it being painted pink," she said. "I have a problem with it being paint."

Whoever painted the tomb used latex paint, which does not breathe and traps in moisture which is "the single biggest threat to the survival of these brick-and-mortar tombs," Dodge said.

The vandal also painted the marble tablet on the face of the tomb with white paint. That is damaging because marble is very soft, porous, and fragile, Dodge said.

 

The nonprofit Save Our Cemeteries has been in contact with several restoration companies about removing the pink-and-white paint, Dodge said.

If people would like to see Laveau's tomb restored to its natural state, they can ask her to grant them that wish without desecrating the tomb with an "X," Dodge said.

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