About as quickly as they were knocked over, most of the 27 vandalized gravestones at Kawaiaha‘o Church cemetery have been restored, in large part because of the goodwill of the community.

About 15 volunteers from the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local 1, of Hawaii started putting the gravestones back on their foundations at 7 a.m. Monday.

Mel Silva, a business manager for Local 1, said he heard about the incident on the news soon after it happened July 3, and he called Brickwood Galuteria, chairman of the Kawaiaha‘o Church board, to offer his services.

“It touched my heart. … I came here that very morning,” said Silva, who went to the cemetery to scope out the damage.

Silva asked other Local 1 workers whether they wanted to take on the job, and they agreed to spend what became a rather hot and sunny Monday morning to help out at the cemetery.

The group was in a good mood and appeared relaxed, although Silva didn’t say the work was easy — he estimated one of the gravestones to be 700-800 pounds.

It was a lot quicker than he expected, however.

“It went surprisingly good,” Silva said, later adding that he thought the work was going to take three days. Galuteria said he thought it was going to take a week.

The volunteers, all in neon green construction shirts, used a rig involving a pulley system to lift and place the heavy gravestones, which were cleaned and sanded to remove old mortar.

Though they got to all the gravestones Monday, they will have to come back today to seal the edges where they were reattached to their foundations using epoxy.

One of the gravestones, which was 3 feet tall, upright, thin and shaped into a crucifix on top, was shattered in several places after being knocked over. Galuteria said the family wanted it replaced with a flat headstone.

The treated gravestones are identifiable by the blue tape around their foundations, placed to catch any epoxy that spills over.

Galuteria still isn’t sure about the details of the vandalism, although he entertained the idea that it wasn’t a spontaneous act or one- person job after considering all the energy that would have been necessary to knock over so many gravestones.

He called Kawaiaha‘o Church the “mother church of Hawaii,” citing its historic significance.

The church’s website says it was the first Christian church on Oahu and was often visited by Hawaiian royalty.

Nevertheless, Galuteria said the church will look at increased security measures for the cemetery.

Single donations were as high as $10,000, Galuteria said, and some of the donations will be put into upgrades for the cemetery, while some will be put into increased security.

“Most of the desecration done was done in the darkest part of the cemetery,” he said, mentioning increased security presence and additional lights as possible measures.

Local 1 bricklayers weren’t the only ones who helped in the gravestones’ restoration.

“In addition to the Bricklayers Union, the church would like to thank Hawaiian Dredging, who provided beams for scaffolding and hoisting; Bonded Materials Co. for the epoxy and other bonding materials; Marmol Hawaii Inc. for their special equipment; Lyman Electric for their generous donation and the many others who reached out to Kawaiaha‘o,” the church said in a news release.

Local 1 volunteers replaced gravestones that had been knocked down previous to the July 3 incident. Some are still toppled over and have been for a while, as grass has started growing over them. Galuteria said they’ll replace them if the family asks.

“We wouldn’t move them or anything unless the family tells us,” he said.

The cemetery, which is quaint and aged but for the most part well maintained, was calm early Monday afternoon despite being in the middle of busy downtown Honolulu, with two sides of the cemetery running along Punchbowl and Queen streets.

Several trucks were parked and tents were pitched in the middle of the cemetery. Other than perhaps the gravestones, it was an ideal place for a picnic. And before noon, already finished undoing all the damage that was done, Silva, Galuteria and about 20 others gathered under the tents, where lunch had arrived.