NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — New Orleans’ oldest cemetery will soon be closed to visitors without an official escort or familial ties to the deceased, the result of a spate of vandalism that has included the tomb of voodoo queen Marie Laveau.

Vandalism is not a new problem at Laveau’s tomb and others at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, which dates to the late 1700s and is perhaps the most famous graveyard in a city whose above-ground burial plots are among its defining characteristics.

But the defacement, which includes Xs written in marker on the Laveau tomb as part of a local ritual for good luck that appears to have been encouraged by unofficial tour guides, has accelerated in recent months, said Sarah McDonald, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which owns the cemetery.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-usa-new-orleans-cemetery-idUSKBN0L02IW20150127.