A Bridgeport woman says she believes someone is intentionally removing and cutting flowers then tossing them away from the site of her mother's headstone at Lakeview Cemetery.

Yesevel Figoera says she was devastated when her mom died one year ago at the age of 60, and she didn't think anything could hurt worse than the pain of that loss.

But then she says she started noticing that the flowers she was leaving at her mom's grave at the cemetery on Boston Avenue were being cut up and tossed nearby.

Figoera says it has happened on at least 10 occasions, including her birthday, Mother's Day, and most recently on the one-year anniversary of her death.

"It's very heartbreaking," said Figoera. "I leave from the cemetery all the time crying and it's not crying because I miss my Mom, most of the time, because I'm upset."

Figoera says not only was her mother's headstone scratched up, but solar lights at the grave have been broken twice.

The head of Lakeview cemetery, which is a nonprofit organization, says it could be deer eating the flowers, or he says it could in fact be vandalism, since it is only happening at one grave.

Figoera says it does not look like a deer created the scratches or removed the flowers.

Cemetery director Don Edwards says if it is deer, he's repairing breaks in the fencing to discourage grazing.

"I wish we could have somebody down there 24 hours a day, but it's just one grave in our 40 acres of the cemetery," Edwards said.

Whether it's deer, vandals or a combination of both, Figoera hopes something can be done about it so her mom can rest in peace.