Geocachers have destroyed 18th century remote and rural cemeteries in my area, and in some cases, have damaged or stolen irreplaceable wrought iron fencing around family plots.
Head stones, some literally only pieces of field stone with names scratched into them, have been damaged and moved.
Personally, it enrages me that idiots playing “games” are stomping all over my dead kinfolk for “fun”.
That’s sad. I geocache a little bit and am always very careful when moving through the woods.
The initial idea was to be pretty circumspect. We set a cache in a park behind out house and it was pretty funny to see the geocachers come by, all nonchalant and stuff. It was a corner of the park and rarely used by anyone but cachers so we knew them instantly.
It’s sad to hear that the Tread Lightly ethic has disappeared.
I used to geocache, then life got in the way. My wife and I, and all those we knew who geocached, were always respectful of private property, and would never have damaged anything, taken something (other than the take something/leave something in some of the caches).
Some folks are simply disrespectful, but it's certainly not the entire group being so. I've often wondered if some folks find these things and ruin them just do it to piss others off, regardless of the medium.
You can contact Geocaching.com and ask them to remove caches in the cemetery. They take public opinion very seriously.