Ohio cemetery removes SpongeBob SquarePants headstones

A cemetery in the Cincinnati, Ohio region recently removed two large headstones due to their non-traditional appearance.

This year, Sgt. Kimberly Walker was found dead in a hotel room on Valentine's Day at just 28-years-old. Her boyfriend, Sgt. Montrell Mayo, was later charged with first-degree murder. This extremely sad "love story" has a twisted happy ending of sorts.

Walker was apparently a huge fan of the Nickelodeon kid's show SpongeBob SquarePants; so much so that her family decided there was no better way to honor her than to get custom headstones made resembling the cartoon.

Deborah, Walker's mother, and the rest of the family put together enough money to purchase six plots at the Spring Grove Cemetery, which would house the two 7,000-pound, 6-foot-8-inch tall headstones of SpongeBob both wearing military garb – one wore an Army uniform, meant to represent Kimberly, and the other adorns a Navy uniform, for her twin sister Kara who is currently serving as an IT specialist. Each custom made stone reportedly cost $13,000.

Realizing this was an out of the ordinary burial situation, the family made sure they received approval from Spring Grove before they erected the statues. But the day after they arrived, the family was told that they had to be removed because the monuments didn't fit within their guidelines – even though an employee assisted with the design. The cemetery is working with the family to come up with a new solution that will be payed for by Spring Grove.

[WMMT]