People have been leaving sticks at the gravestone of a dog who died 100 years ago

Usually, when people leave tributes at Green-Wood Cemetery in south Brooklyn, NY, it's for one of the numerous celebrities or important historical figures buried there. But recently, people have been leaving sticks for a dog named Rex, who died over 100 years ago and is believed to have stood guard over his owner's plot ever since.

Rex is believed to be the dog of John E. Stow, who was once the city's longest practicing fruit merchant. Cemetery records aren't clear on whether Rex is actually buried next to his owner and simply refer to the placement of a “bronze likeness of a dog.”

Regardless of whether or not Rex is buried on the plot, people have been collecting sticks and leaving them on the statue of Rex for years now.

“When it comes to Rex, he obviously stands out,” Stacy Locke, communications manager for Green-Wood Cemetery, told The Dodo. “People see him from the road — it’s sort of a prominent spot, right off of the intersection of two roads here.”

“It’s right under a tree and there are lots of sticks around,” Locke added. “People will drop a stick across his little paws. Someone also left a picture of a dog there once, maybe their little pet who passed away, as to say, ‘Rex, look after my little one.’”

“I think people like to believe that there is a dog interred there and there very well might be,” Locke added. “But it’s hard to say.”

This article was originally published on November 3, 2020. It has since been updated.