A sunken tombstone of a veteran was rescued Saturday at a cemetery in Nutley.

In preparation for Memorial Day, township officials and local veterans typically clean the graves of fellow veterans.

The fire department and township officials worked Wednesday to dig out the tombstone of sergeant A. M. Vreeland at St. Vincent Cemetery after they say the tombstone was discovered hidden behind some weeds.

"It has sunk to almost the point where you can't even see it anymore," said Mayor Kelly. "It was found several feet below the ground. We asked the Nutley Fire Department for help, and they decided to use this as an opportunity for a training exercise in setting up a pulley system and rigging to pull the tombstone out of the ground - as if they were pulling someone out from the ground."

The tombstone was raised from the ground and restored to its original place just in time for Memorial Day.