CARLSBAD (KGTV) — A Carlsbad community is heartbroken after its annual Día de los Muertos ofrenda was vandalized, leaving behind shattered photographs, broken structures and damaged tributes to loved ones who have passed away.
One day after discovering the damage, community members gathered for a solidarity vigil to honor those remembered at the ofrenda, stand together and begin rebuilding. Their message was clear: hate has no place in Carlsbad.
For the past four years, the community ofrenda has served as a gathering place for families to celebrate Día de los Muertos, a centuries-old tradition honoring the lives and memories of those who have died.
It is observed on November 1st and 2nd.
Decorated with marigolds, candles and photographs of loved ones, the large-scale display offered families a special place to remember their relatives and share their culture with the broader community.
For Sandra Carmona and others involved in creating the ofrenda, the display represented far more than a collection of decorations.
“This is a treasure. It's a jewel that we're sharing with the rest of our community,” Carmona said.
Many of the photographs held deep personal meaning. One community member pointed to a portrait of his grandfather, describing him as an important part of the tradition's beginnings.
The discovery Thursday morning was devastating for those who had spent months preparing the display.
Carmona described finding wooden structures broken in half, shattered picture frames and mud scattered throughout the area.
“It was months and months of work,” she said. “Wood structures that were broken in half, frames of loved ones that were broken and shattered. It was complete chaos.”
For families, the destruction felt personal. The photographs were not simply decorations, but tributes to the people they love and continue to honor.
Despite the heartbreak, the community chose to respond by coming together.
At the vigil, residents gathered to remember their loved ones, support one another and begin looking toward the future. Rather than allowing the vandalism to end the tradition, some say it has strengthened their determination to keep it alive.
David Hernandez, who is one of the first ones to start this community tradition, says this setback has inspired him to make next year's ofrenda even better.
“That makes me just wanna make it bigger next year.” he said.
His daughter, Esperanza praised how much it's grown and brought the community together.
"I think it's amazing to see that the community just really comes together and that every year now that this is like just begun and it's an ongoing tradition," she says.
"I think it's just gonna get bigger, but it's it's something that we can all join and like you know just rejoice as a group as a as a whole."
Carlsbad police say an investigation is underway. Investigators have not yet determined a potential motive behind the vandalism.
As the community looks ahead, residents say preserving the ofrenda is about protecting an important piece of Carlsbad's cultural history.
“This space is very sacred to us,” Carmona said. “It's like the one little space in all of Carlsbad that still holds that culture of the people that built the city, the people that forged the city, and it should be embraced.”
For now, the community is focused on healing, rebuilding and making sure the tradition continues for generations to come.
There is a gofundme set up to help with the cost of damages that Carmona says totaled up five-thousand dollars.
