Furious villagers say a council has caused grave offence by labelling memorials in their churchyard unsafe.
West Norfolk council has put bright yellow warning signs on more than 30 headstones at Terrington St Clement's church, near King's Lynn.
The messages tell families that if they do not arrange remedial work, the tributes to their loved ones will be laid flat on top of their graves.
Angry locals have taken to social media to protest at the move.
Michael Lister posted on Facebook: "Many people may not be aware that since the Parish Church churchyard was closed to future burials the responsibility of its maintenance has been transferred to the Borough Council.
"This morning whilst visiting there I noticed that with its duty of care to the public it has recently visited and inspected the headstones.
"A great number of them, mainly on the south side of the church now have notices attached to them advising that they are unstable and must not be touched.
"This is the first step before they return at a later date and lay the headstones flat."
Hank Pooley asked: "When has anyone been injured or seriously injured by a falling headstone?"
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Ashley Bareford said it was "disrespectful", adding: "They are not unsafe. I haven't heard of anyone injuring themselves because of these headstones."
Another villager labelled the move "health and safety gone mad".
A council spokesman said: "All burial authorities have a general duty to maintain their burial grounds in good order, and to fulfil this duty we periodically carry out inspection programmes to identify unsafe memorials and ensure they are made safe.
"The council conducted inspections in its five open cemeteries in the borough in May.
"Out of more than 8,000 memorials tested, just over 900 were identified as needing attention. Where it is considered that a memorial needs remedial work to make it safe, we do our best to contact the owner of the grave. This is not always straightforward.
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