More than 40 tombstones Washington Cemetery had fallen due to previous damage, officials said. View Full Caption Twitter/Assemblyman Dov Hikind

MAPLETON — Tombstones knocked over at a historic Jewish cemetery were not damaged as a result of vandalism, and instead have been toppled for years, the cemetery and the NYPD said.

Asssemblyman Dov Hikind tweeted Saturday that more than 40 tombstones at Washington Cemetery, at 5400 Bay Pkwy. in Mapleton, were pushed over in an act of apparent vandalism.

40+ stones knocked down here at Washington Cemetery - one of the largest Jewish cemeteries. Heartbreaking #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/sHnPkUnonB — Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) March 5, 2017

But the NYPD investigated at the cemetery, and said later that the damage to the tombstones were old.

"It was old damage, years if not decades," old, an NYPD spokesman said. The cemetery had issues with older tombstones in the past, he added.

A man who answered the phone at Washington Cemetery, who gave only his first name, Sam, confirmed there wasn't vandalism at the cemetery.

"There was not vandalism, it is wrong information," he said.