COLUMBUS (WCMH) — When Navy veteran Tom Johnson moved to Columbus last summer, he couldn’t help but notice a cemetery along Frank Road in Franklin Township was in need of some upkeep.

“There’s an example right there,” Johnson says as he walks through the cemetery with NBC4’S Matt Edwards. “Four broken tombstones in one pile. Where are the graves?”

It turns out, they’re below Johnson. Unmarked.

Franklin Township Trustee Member Jim Stevens showed up to the cemetery with a map, showing the rows of grave sites at Union Methodist Cemetery. They fill most of the lot but the majority remain unmarked.

Stevens says the township mows the grass every two weeks. They created a memorial in 2010 with 12 new headstones, including some for those who fought in the Civil War and the War of 1812.

But they can’t do it all.

Many of the headstones were damaged when a large tree fell during a storm, busting and scattering the brittle grave markers. Much of the engraving was so weathered it wasn’t possible to tell what marker went with which grave.

“I think if somebody did a lot of research back into their family history, they might find that they actually have relatives buried here,” says Stevens.

Johnson agrees that family members should be involved with the upkeep.

“Some descendant somewhere is still alive around here,” the veteran says. “It’s a shame that they didn’t come around and notice it and take care of it.”

Stevens says he plans to put in a grant to get the cemetery a new fence next year and that it takes baby steps to get the historic site back into shape.