The grave of the late rapper Pop Smoke was found severely damaged on Saturday morning.
Sources told TMZ that they found the grave vandalized during a visit to Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery.
Photos of the destruction indicate that the tombstone of the murdered rapper had been broken, and scratch marks indicated that the vandals may have tried to remove his coffin.
Shocking: The grave of murdered rapper Pop Smoke was found severely vandalized Saturday morning, sources told TMZ who spotted it in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery
Pop Smoke’s coffin was buried in a mausoleum surrounded by several other coffins
An exterior wall featured a tombstone for the musician (born Bashar Barakah Jackson), but photographs of a witness seem to indicate that the vandals were able to remove the stone.
The upper corners had broken and the fragments were scattered on the ground just below, while the remaining piece of stone had leaned against the tomb.
The ground in front of the stone was also full of flowers, which could have been left before the vandalism, and what one witness said appeared to be burnt marijuana joints.
It’s gone too soon: Pop Smoke died in February 2020 when four gunmen broke into a rental house where he was staying as part of an attempted robbery; seen in January 2020 in Paris
Desecrated: The stone outside the tomb of Pop Smoke’s mausoleum appeared to have been smashed and slanted against the wall, indicating that the vandals entered the tomb.
Photos of the vandal tomb appear to show scratch marks on the paving stones, indicating that something heavy may have been dragged from the tomb.
It is unclear if the intruders were able to remove the Pop Smoke casket, but the source who spotted the damage took a photo of a long rectangular object placed against a stone wall in front of the mausoleum.
The eyewitness described the object as concrete and suggested that it could be a divider, either placed on top of the Pop Smoke casket to separate it from the casket above his grave or on the sides.
According to reports, the person who discovered the damage alerted security, who were apparently unaware of the vandalism.
Disturbing: Photos of the vandal tomb appear to show scratch marks on the paving stones, indicating that something heavy may have been dragged from the tomb.
Fast work: the witness returned to sight hours later and found him trapped with caution tape. Some of the waste had been cleaned
The source who discovered the vandalism added that they returned to the site hours later and found that the damaged headstone had been replaced by a blank slab while caution tape was placed in the area.
Although some of the stone fragments had been cleared, the area still appeared to be in a state of disarray.
Pop Smoke, who was born in Brooklyn, was a rising star at the time of his tragic death early last year.
He had a number of popular singles starting in 2019 and released two acclaimed mixtapes, Meet The Woo and Meet The Woo 2.
The latter, released on February 7, 2020, debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching its first top 10.
But the rapper would be murdered less than two weeks after the hit.
Tragedy: Pop Smoke was assassinated less than two weeks after releasing its second mixtape, Meet The Woo 2, which became its first release from the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart; seen in 2019 in Los Angeles
Pop Smoke had rented a house in Hollywood Hills that was owned by former Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp and her husband.
In the early hours of the morning of February 19, 2020, four hooded men broke into the house.
The rapper was later found by police after being shot several times, and was pronounced dead hours after being taken to a hospital.
LAPD detectives initially believed the murder was related to the gangs, but later determined it was a violent robbery, as Pop Smoke had shared posts on Instagram in the days leading up to the murder showing the precious gifts he had recently received.
The address of the house was also clearly visible in at least one of the publications.
Violent ending: In May, an LAPD detective testified that a woman with Pop Smoke at the start said she was in the shower when gunmen confronted her. He ran out, was only shot several times and was kicked to the ground
In May this year, LAPD detective Christian Carrasco testified during the murder trial that the rapper had showered at the time the intruders entered through a second-floor window, according to the New York Daily News.
The detective stated that a woman who was in the house with Pop Smoke heard a noise that sounded like a fight coming out of the shower, before you saw him come out of the bathroom.
Then he heard a shot and saw him fall to the ground.
The detective said the woman claimed to have heard two more shots and that she saw the intruders kicking the rapper while he was on the ground.
He also claimed they brought him his “big gold watch”.
Following his assassination, Pop Smoke’s debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, was released in July 2020 and topped the Billboard 200 chart.
In July of this year he was followed by a second hit album, Faith. It was also a number one hit, although both albums received mixed reviews.
Robbery: LAPD detectives determined it was a violent robbery, as Pop Smoke had shared posts on Instagram in the days leading up to the murder that showed expensive gifts; seen in 2019 in Houston, Texas