A Throgs Neck man says he found something disturbing atop his mother's grave in Saint Raymond's Cemetery earlier this week.

The man says he found the severed head of a chicken decaying on his mother's plot in the Lafayette Avenue cemetery.

Other similar findings were reported at different tombstones within the Roman Catholic burying ground.

People in the area say that the beheadings are likely religious sacrifices associated with Santeria, a blend of Afro-Caribbean and Catholic religions.

Families say they want security stepped up in the graveyard.

"I was alarmed," says the man who found the chicken head. "It was a desecration to my mother's grave. Saint Raymond's should either put surveillance cameras up, and see what they can do with that, or if not, just add a little more manpower."

This isn't the first time graves have been vandalized at the cemetery. Some of the tombstones have been previously scratched up and toppled over.