Mourners are furious after a council removed thousands of headstones in a row over health and safety.
And now they face hefty bills to have them fixed or replaced.
Scarborough Borough Council, in North Yorkshire, has purged a reported 50,000 graves, with some families believing they had been targeted by vandals at first.
But then found stickers explaining they had been uprooted by the local authority and laid on the ground.
Protocols have been brought in in recent years to prevent heavy memorials from falling on people.
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Three of the town's cemeteries were subjected to the removals - but mourners are baffled because most of the headstones are little over knee height.
And claim they weren't given any pre-warning.
The council told the Mirror it conducted a "sensitive audit" and sent letters to the registered addresses of all involved.
They added that no gravestones were damaged by their staff.
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The council said any graves over 45cm (18 inches) will receive a "gentle push" as part of so-called topple tests to see if they need removing.
In photos shared on social media, it appears some plaques have been wrenched off and headstone bases left in the ground.
Angry families say they will now be billed a reported £330 for stone masons to put the headstones back.
While some will have to fork out over £1,000 to replace those broken.
Dawn Jordan first realised her late mum Bridie Jordan's headstone had been uprooted after spotting the row on Facebook.
The 52-year-old, from Scarborough, also found her sister Karen Jordan, who died in 2000 aged 36, and another family member had also had their headstones removed.
She told the Daily Telegraph: “I just think it’s disgusting that they can just push these over without consulting anyone.
"I have to get in touch with the stone masons the crematorium have told me to use and they have to go look at the grave and give me a quote on how much it will cost to re-erect the gravestone.”
Home Office rules state relatives must be properly informed before graves are disturbed.
The council said it started its audit in July and "communications" started in early June to "give people plenty of notice", including letters, signs and social media posts.
A spokesperson told the Mirror: “A sensitive audit of memorial headstones in our three cemeteries to check they are stable and don’t pose a safety risk to people that visit the cemeteries and the staff that work in them, began in July and is continuing.
“No headstones have been damaged by our staff and contractors. They are not pushed over but carefully positioned on the grave face up so that the inscription can still be read.
“The small signs attached to the headstones advise people to contact us if they have any queries. We do our very best to place the signs without obscuring the memorial text.
“We do not charge any fees for repair. Stone mason fees may vary and any recent stones (within 10 years) should still be under warranty from the stonemason and be made safe free of charge.
“Communications about the work were carried out from early June to give people plenty of notice.
"This included writing directly to all grave owners where known, putting up signs throughout the cemeteries, which are still in place, and an article in the June edition of our digital newsletter, Residents’ News, which goes to around 40,000 subscribers.
“We also shared a news release with print, online and broadcast media, placed information booklets at local stonemasons, added a digital version of the booklet to our website and put information on our social media channels.
“Our records show a letter was issued in respect of the grave mentioned in the Daily Telegraph article.”
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