HILO — Homelani Memorial Park's new policy banning most graveside adornments is raising the ire of some bereaved family members.

Cemetery staff posted signs at the cemetery in August, notifying families of the pending ban on virtually everything except fresh flowers and approved vases.
This resulted in the removal, beginning Sept. 1, of artificial flowers, potted plants and lei, unapproved vases, pinwheels, toys, statues, candles, lanterns, solar lights, photographs, any other decorations or ornaments, clear plastic covers, fences or stone borders and alcohol. Veterans' flags will be removed after two weeks; fresh flowers and wreaths will be removed after one week.
What happens to the removed items? Cemetery staff has placed dozens of statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and cherubim out of sight in the south corner of the cemetery. There, a pile of plastic flowers sits next to the statues, the angels, the occasional lei and even a carved wooden kii. Most of the statues appeared weathered, as if they had been standing over the graves for many years.
One man was furious after finding that the statue of St. Francis of Assisi, which had guarded his parents' plots for 16 years, had been taken away.
"I think it's pretty terrible," said Paul Neves, better known as the alii ai moku of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I.
Since 1993, a 2-foot-tall statue of St. Francis of Assisi stood over the grave of his mother. Neves' father was later buried next to her.
The younger Neves learned about the statue's removal after receiving a paper that described the new policy, but he says there was no mention of statues being prohibited.
Neves said he visited the Homelani office, where an employee told him that signs announcing the new policy were posted in August, but was told "when they had the signs up, people were so angry that they defaced the signs."
When Neves asked the employee why the policy was established, he was told it was a liability issue — somebody was stung by a bee that had built a hive under the wing of a statue.
He was told the statues had been "lined up" near a workshop.
"They aren't lined up," he said. "That's a pile of statues." Neves approached a cemetery employee, who said family members swore at him while employees were removing the statues. The employee said the bee hive was half the size of the palm of his hand.
Neves, who doesn't begrudge the employee for following orders, said it was a matter of having respect for the dead.
Rightstar Hawaii Management, based in Kaneohe, Oahu, owns both Homelani Memorial Park and Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kaneohe. Director of Operations Steve Hawley said the main issue was providing for maintenance of the grounds.
Most perpetual care cemeteries "have never allowed anything on the graves, other than the vases and the markers," Hawley said. He said that had been Homelani's policy for many years, but it has not been enforced.
Liability is an issue to the extent that the wires in artificial flowers can entangle and damage groundskeeping equipment. Hawley was not aware of any beehive problems.
Because groundskeepers had to go around the statues, and take care not to damage them, "it was taking forever to maintain the cemetery." So Homelani erected the signs.
Some people were angry, Hawley said, but others were supportive. He said he was going to confer with staff about changing one part of the policy to allow graves in the cemetery portion of Homelani — on the north side of Ponahawai Street — to have statues.
And the statues that are collected by the maintenance shed will remain there "so people can come and get them," Hawley said. "We're not going to throw them away."