Brian Free and his dad, Mark, have been visiting the wooded area off Lakeview and Bellows Roads for years. They say the discovery of the desecrated grave markers was nothing short of shocking.

"We used to bring people to come look at them because some of the graves were so old," says Free.

So old, in fact, that some of the people buried in the unregistered cemetery could have very well fought in the American Civil War.

"They were all hand carved headstones and it's just sad that they've been destroyed."

Destruction that Free says came as a result of recent land clearing, which could also mean the loss of precious historical material.

"They're many things to many people, but in the case of a cemetery, it enters into a whole new level," says Dr. Gary Joiner, Associate Professor of History at LSU Shreveport.

Joiner says there's also a health risk associated with disturbing human burial sites, some of which in this cemetery, date as far back as the early 1870's.

"You've got people that died in the 19th century, commonly of really nasty diseases that sometimes can still be active."

A sobering thought considering it's now difficult to determine where the remains are buried, as many of the grave markers have been moved - something Joiner says could have been avoided.

"In this case, when you have a cluster of graves, you know it's a cemetery. It's so obvious that you don't even jump past that. It's a cemetery."

A cemetery that is now at the center of an investigation into how and why this could have happened.

The Caddo Sheriff's Department says, at this point, there's no evidence of criminal activity, but they say they're working to contact the land owner and logging company.

The Louisiana Department of Justice's Division of Archaeology has notified the Asst. Attorney General, Ryan Seidemann, of the issue.

KTBS 3 News is asking for your help in locating anyone who may have family buried in the cemetery, behind the Lakeview subdivision near Cross Lake.

This is an on-going story - stay with KTBS 3 News for more information as the investigation continues.

According to the LA Department of Criminal Justice, the Unmarked Human Burial Sites Preservation Act makes it illegal to disturb an unmarked burial site. That includes disturbing human skeletal remains or burial artifacts.