This has to be one of the more bizarre mysteries to come from the Hoosier State.

Crown Hill Cemetery

The mystery we're talking about today takes place at Crown Hill Cemetery, so I think it's important that we are acquainted with this historic location first. Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis is the largest cemetery in the state of Indiana. Many notable people have been laid to rest in Crown Hill Cemetery over the years. According to Indiana.Gov Crown Hill is the only cemetery in Indiana that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Crown Hill is a fascinating place full of history, and even many notable people who have been laid to rest there. But one grave has many on the internet perplexed.

Cemetery Mysteries

There's a group on Facebook that I find fascinating called Indiana Cemeteries. In this group, many folks highlight interesting graves, unique graves, and even some cemetery mysteries. This falls under the cemetery mysteries category. There's a grave in Crown Hill Cemetery where brooms keep showing up.

Canva

The Grave with the Broom

In a post to Indiana Cemeteries, one person captured a photo of an unassuming grave, but it had a broom placed bristle side up in front of the grave (like the photo above). The post reads:

Crown Hill. Over the years the broom gets replaced. Could not find a definitive reason behind this.
Someone said he was environmental services at Eli Lilly.
Others said to ward off bad energy.
I have seen this in one other cemetery, I think in Chicago.
Your thoughts?

The grave belongs to a couple, Helen and William Rejholec, and when looking at Find A Grave, there is another photo of a different broom placed a couple of years ago, showing this wasn't a one-time thing.

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In the comments, people have different theories as to what this could mean. Some pointed out that there are various superstitions around brooms such as if you leave a broom bristle side up you can "sweep" away unwanted guests. Maybe the broom is there to keep unwanted guests or negative energies away?

Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash

Some comments are quite comforting. Like this comment from Karen which reads:

A broom on a grave is to protect the person from evil and if you plant flowers on a grave and the flourish it’s supposed to be a sign that the person has found peace.

So what do you think? Do you think the broom is a symbol of the person finding peace? Do you think they're warding off unwanted guests? Or do you think maybe they just really like housekeeping? We may never know, but it's certainly added an air of mystery to this historic cemetery!