Broken columns as monuments symbolize the end of life, usually specifically a life cut short.
It’s not a style of monument I find particularly aesthetically interesting unless there are other elements, so I realized I don’t photograph them very often. The first two photographed are both in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland and appear to be family monuments rather than to individuals. This next one, found in Old Carlisle Cemetery to Hugh Gordon who died at only twenty, seems to allude to the “life cut short” symbolism. (The GAR marker does not appear to be for young Gordon, who did not live long enough to fight in the Civil War. The adjacent side might be for another Gordon son who fought.)
A Grave Concern 