Just over a week after Michael Entner buried his wife, Valerie, at Ponceannah Cemetery in Paisley, he says he is fighting to protect her resting place from illegal dumping.

Entner said Valerie died from respiratory failure earlier this month. After her death, he worked to honor her wish to be buried at the more than 150-year-old cemetery in Lake County.

“She’d always wanted to be buried here, so I moved,” Entner said. “I moved everything I could to get her buried here.”

Now, Entner said the cemetery has become a dumping ground. Just feet from his wife’s grave, he said he has found empty bottles, tires and other discarded items.

“You could see somebody dump a hot tub, trash everywhere,” he said. “I picked up trash all the way up and down the street.”

A dirt road runs through the burial site, and Entner believes people are using it to dump unwanted items near the cemetery. Tire tracks could be seen leading farther down the road, where tires, a cooler and a mattress had been left behind.

Since the funeral, Entner said he and other volunteers have been cleaning up the area. He said the effort is about protecting Valerie’s memory and showing respect for the hundreds of people buried there.

“It’s not a dumping ground,” he said. “It’s not a landfill. It’s people.”

Entner said he has reached out to local and state officials for help but had not received answers until recently.

“I cry a lot about that,” he said. “I just want to make sure she’s safe.”

Lake County confirmed its code enforcement office received a complaint Tuesday and opened an investigation the next day.

The county said it is also looking into who owns the road and has reached out to the Florida Forestry Division for help.