Memorial bench vandalized in Mashpee Wampanoag tribal cemetery

MASHPEE — Standing by his daughter’s vandalized memorial, Michael Frye said he felt hurt. He inspected the cracks, noticing the granite had been struck four times, leaving a crack down the middle and a chunk missing.

“It’s just evil and senseless,” said Frye, a Falmouth resident.

Michael’s daughter, Taryn Frye, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who grew up in Falmouth and graduated from Falmouth High School, died in 2017 at the age of 35. She left behind four children.

“Everybody loves her, she’s a beautiful person,” Michael Frye said. “She’s a good mother.”

His daughter loved Mahoney’s Garden Center and working with flowers, and she loved her family, he said.

Friends and family chipped in to install a memorial bench at her gravesite at the Old Indian Meeting House where the Sacred Meeting House Tribal Cemetery is located. The memorial had been there for less than two weeks when it was vandalized.

Around the same time the bench was installed, a cookout and memorial ceremony were held for Taryn, where a prayer was said and balloons were released, Michael Frye said.

Chief Kevin Frye of the Mashpee Wampanoag Police Department, who is Michael’s cousin, said the department is investigating the incident. The department is looking into a couple of people, he said, but he encouraged anyone with information to call tribal police at 774-361-6045.

Chief Frye said the vandalism, which he said was intentional, was discovered Tuesday afternoon. Someone told the department that they did not see the memorial damaged when they were at the cemetery Monday, he said.

Michael Frye said he and a cousin planned to mend the bench with cement and repaint it. Once restored, it was to be brought back to the cemetery.

Word spread about the vandalism, however, and community members already have raised money to replace the bench. A GoFundMe page created Wednesday morning reached its $1,600 fundraising goal within four hours.