MOUNT DORA, Florida—A former Mount Dora city council member was arrested Monday—on the last day of Black History Month—for removing and damaging trees that fell on grave markers in an African American Civil War Cemetery, according to an arrest affidavit.
Edward Lee Rowlett, 74, admitted to Mount Dora Police he hired a tree service to cut the trees down after police were called by a Country Club of Mount Dora Board (CCMD) member. He told MDPD there were two grave markers under the refuge left by the tree company and the responding officer performed an internet search of the cemetery and found there were three grave markers in that area, one with the name, Smith; a second with the name Jonnie Haynes and a third with the name, John Scoggins. All three were killed in the Civil War.
It is unclear when and how long Rowlett served on the city council; the city’s public information officer did not respond to an email before press time.
“The trail is clearly marked as City of Mount Dora (private cemetery) historic preservation board,” the arresting officer noted in the affidavit. While speaking with officers, Rowlett said when he was a member of the city council, he voted to have that sign created and erected on behalf of the historical meaning of the cemetery.
Rowlett told police he was trying to keep the trees from falling on his home and he attempted to get a permit from the city. He said the City of Mount Dora told him the trees were part of CCMD’s HOA and did not belong to the city. He then went to CCMD and was told the trees could not be removed, “because it was a historical cemetery and they would not allow it,” the affidavit states.
Rowlett was arrested for one count of injuring a tomb or monument, one count of destroying a tree within a tomb or monument and disturbing an unmarked burial. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was released on $15,000 bond.
