The crosses are extremely heavy, leading researcher and mapper, Peet Schabort, to believe they’re being carried away, one by one, to be sold off as scrap metal.

Mr Schabort, who lives in the Freestate, has been in Middelburg the past two weeks to map the old Botshabelo cemetery to document and map the existing graves.

He was accompanied by Germaine Smith and Corine de Jonge, who’re both associated with the Genealogical Society of South Africa alongside Mr Schabort.

Apart from the priceless crosses, “which you will never find anywhere again,” many of the graves with wrought iron fencing, have also been stripped off the fences.

Botshabelo was handed to around 1000 families in a successful land restitution bid in 2005. Since the change of ownership, the once thriving tourist destination, has gone from one of Middelburg’s most globally recognized overnight venues, to a wasteland littered with shacks.

“The plan is to capture what is left, for future reference, in case matters further deteriorate,” Mr Schabort says.

He has come in contact with a board member from the Botshabelo Community Trust, who reported that the board will be sitting on November 27, where Mr Schabort’s maps and findings will be tabled.

The board also invited Mr Schabort to participate in future activities of preserving the cemetery where many of the claimant’s ancestors lay buried alongside German missionaries involved with the establishment of the Place of Refuge.

Botshabelo’s church was built in the 1860’s and has thankfully been restored to its former glory, after the roof caved in. Sadly, the church bell was stolen alongside priceless museum artifacts, many on loan from museums around the country.

“It’s essential that we preserve what we can,” Mr Schabort told www.mobserver.co.za before his return to the Deneysville on Wednesday.