A Crossville man defaced his wife’s gravestone and sent pictures of it to someone in North Carolina as a threat, authorities said Monday.

Christopher Jack Lowrey, 46, is charged with desecration of burial ground. Lowrey is accused of spray painting his wife’s gravestone at New Canaan Baptist Church last Thursday.

DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris said they had also received a phone call from a police department in North Carolina, stating Lowrey had been threatening someone there and had sent them a picture of himself next to the defaced gravestone.

DeKalb County deputies said they went to Lowrey’s home to talk with him and found that Lowrey’s vehicle and clothing he was wearing matched the description of a person a witness saw acting suspiciously at the cemetery.

Harris said they are still in contact with North Carolina police and the case is ongoing.