Tombstones at the cemetery date back to at least the mid-1800s. According to the book, "The Jewish Community of South Philadelphia," Mount Carmel cemetery "evolved as a conglomeration of several burial grounds" and was the final resting place of many Austro-Hungarians. Nearly 35 years ago a nearly identical incident took place at the same cemetery. In October 1982 about 100 headstones were knocked over. Beer bottles had been thrown on the grounds and one stone was desecrated with two swastikas and a misspelled "Hile Hitler," according to coverage at the time.