A local genealogy buff is calling for better care of historic graves in Bermuda, after finding that graves in one of St. David's cemeteries have been poorly maintained.

Judy Corday, who frequently helps people from overseas with their genealogy, was horrified to find white paint had been sloppily thrown onto graves in the Chapel of Ease Cemetery in St. David's, some dating back hundreds of years.

She had been in the graveyard helping Roslyn MacGregor from, Montreal Canada, investigate her Bermuda roots.

"It really upsets me to see that the graves are painted at the expense of one not being able to read the headstones and the numbers of the graves," she said. "If my family grave at Wesley Methodist cemetery in Pembroke was treated this way, I would be most upset. In the next few few years, the plaques with ancestors names could be lost due to sloppiness and uncaring manner in which they are being painted."

But she said the problem is not just at the Chapel of Ease cemetery, but in many graveyards around the Island.

"This problem happens at a number of graveyards and we have to insist that more caring individuals be found to look after our ancestors remains," she said.