PORTLAND -- Imagine visiting the grave of a loved one, but instead of finding flowers, you find drug paraphernalia and vandalism.

If that wasn't enough, now the Columbian Cemetery just off Interstate 5 in north Portland is dealing with another problem -- animal sacrifices.

The sacrifice appears to be a ritual related to Santeria. In this case, it was a chicken that was beheaded. Just one more issue to deal with for a cemetery volunteer who has seen it all.

At 160 years old it may not look like much, but it is historic.

Upkeep of the Columbian cemetery isn't the only issue. Crime is rampant. Look around and you'll see signs of drug activity, sexual activity and now, animal abuse.

"To have people coming in here doing things like this is just terrible -- it's disgusting," volunteer Linda Lathrop said.

Lathrop, who's trying to save the cemetery, believes that a beheaded chicken was used in a Santeria ritual. Literature and black salt appears to confirm her suspicion.

"It makes me nervous holding it."

Blending West African religion with Catholicism, the Caribbean-Latin American religion Santeria includes the use of animal sacrifice -- in this case, done over a grave.

The fixtures around the cemetery have also taken a beating. Headstone after headstone has been toppled. But what Lathrop finds most disturbing is that volunteers and family members no longer come here, not because they don't want to, but because they are afraid.

"As you can see, the cemetery needs help," she said.

People who want in simply jump a short fence. Officials want to install an 8-foot fence with razor wire. Until then, friends of the cemetery will try to get federal grants and donations to help restore this landmark to what it once was.

The organization Families of Historic Columbian Cemetery hopes to have new fencing and lighting up within the year. As for the mutilated chicken, it has been reported to animal control.