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After it was revealed that pop princess Whitney Houston was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Newark, N.J.,wearing more than $500,000 worth of clothing and jewels, round-the-clock armed security guards were hired to watch over Houston’s grave site to protect it from obsessed fans seeking memorabilia and potential grave robbers, reports the Daily Star.

RELATED: National Enquirer’s Whitney Houston Coffin Photo Angers Fans

News of Houston’s extravagant burial attire was publicized by the National Enquirer who also published a picture of the diva lying in her coffin.  The published photo drew wide criticism.

Reportedly, Houston’s burial attire was selected by daughter Bobbi Kristina along with famed cousin Dionne Warwick, who searched through the late-singer’s closet and selected a cherished purple dress for her to wear.  The women also decided upon a pair of glittery gold slippers and agreed on donning Houston with $500,000 worth of jewelry.  Houston also wore a diamond broach, a gold and ruby crucifix necklace, and a $200,000 pair of diamond earrings that she purchased for herself with the earnings she amassed from her role in “The Bodyguard.” Houston was placed in a gold-lined casket that was reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars.

An unidentified source told the Daily Star:
“There is a very genuine fear that her coffin will be targeted by grave robbers.  It would be hard for them to actually dig her casket up, but that won’t stop psychotic fans or people who think it could make them money.  The fact she was buried with such valuable jewelry is just an invitation to sickos.  It’s ironic that Whitney, who was most famous for ‘The Bodyguard’ movie when she was alive, has to have bodyguards even in death.”
According to experts, grave robbing is typically done by lower income people who are usually able to sell the goods that they steal on the black market. Since Houston’s burial, there has been droves of curious onlookers who have caused such overwhelming congestion and traffic that the cemetary was forced to close its gates indefinitely.  The decision to close will not, however, affect those families who have relatives already buried at the site.

Whitney Houston, 48, died earlier this month at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles. She was found submerged in a bathtub. Autopsy results are pending, but there is speculation that her death could have been attributed to a lethal mix of prescription drugs and alcohol.

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