LIBERTY, Mo. -- An area cemetery has received extensive damage and Liberty, Mo., police said they will not stop investigating until they have solved the crime.

"I can't even fathom who would do such a thing," said Liberty resident Doloris Forman.

After hearing about the vandalism done to Fairview Cemetery last weekend, Forman and her sister came out to check on their relatives' gravesites. They were relieved to see the vandals did not touch the gravestones of their loved ones.

But that was not the case for all the headstones. More than 175 markers were toppled over or broken by the vandals.

"I've seen cemetery vandalism before," said Liberty Police Chief Craig Knouse. "But I've never seen it to this extent."

Knouse theorized that a group of people went into the cemetery late Friday night or early Saturday morning and began tipping over monuments, some of which weighed hundreds of pounds and cost thousands of dollars.

"This is just cowardice," he said. "This is a crime against people's loved ones who've passed on, and there's no other way to refer to it other than as an act of cowardice."

The city owns the cemetery, but each family owns the individual plots, so if caught and convicted, these vandals could face 176 separate counts of vandalism. Police said the cost of repairs could reach $500,000.

"There's just a lot of meanings and memories," Forman said. "And this is very much against my religion and beliefs to do such a thing."

Police are asking anyone with information to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hot Line at 816-474-TIPS (8477), text TIP452 plus a message to CRIMES (274637) or submit a tip online at kccrimestoppers.com.