diff --git a/app/controllers/comments_controller.rb b/app/controllers/comments_controller.rb
index 28481b569..b790977e2 100644
--- a/app/controllers/comments_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/comments_controller.rb
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class CommentsController < ApplicationController
   def destroy
     @comment = Comment.find(params[:id])
     check_privilege(@comment)
-    @comment.destroy
+    @comment.delete!
     respond_with(@comment) do |format|
       format.js
     end
diff --git a/app/models/comment.rb b/app/models/comment.rb
index fae80c47a..16fec1a72 100644
--- a/app/models/comment.rb
+++ b/app/models/comment.rb
@@ -171,6 +171,10 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
   def hidden_attributes
     super + [:body_index]
   end
+
+  def delete!
+    update_attribute(:is_deleted, true)
+  end
 end
 
 Comment.connection.extend(PostgresExtensions)
diff --git a/app/views/comments/destroy.js.erb b/app/views/comments/destroy.js.erb
index 59cc3d88e..679b8ccc2 100644
--- a/app/views/comments/destroy.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/comments/destroy.js.erb
@@ -1 +1 @@
-$(".comment[data-comment-id=<%= @comment.id %>]").remove();
+$(".comment[data-comment-id=<%= @comment.id %>] div.author h1").append(" (deleted)");
diff --git a/app/views/comments/partials/show/_comment.html.erb b/app/views/comments/partials/show/_comment.html.erb
index 94a69dd16..0856a738d 100644
--- a/app/views/comments/partials/show/_comment.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/comments/partials/show/_comment.html.erb
@@ -1,36 +1,43 @@
-<article class="comment" data-post-id="<%= comment.post_id %>" data-comment-id="<%= comment.id %>" data-score="<%= comment.score %>" data-creator="<%= comment.creator.name %>">
-  <div class="author">
-    <h1><%= link_to_user comment.creator %></h1>
-    <p>
-      <%= time_ago_in_words_tagged(comment.created_at) %>
-    </p>
-  </div>
-  <div class="content">
-    <div class="body prose">
-      <%= format_text(comment.body) %>
+<% if CurrentUser.is_moderator? || !comment.is_deleted? %>
+  <article class="comment" data-post-id="<%= comment.post_id %>" data-comment-id="<%= comment.id %>" data-score="<%= comment.score %>" data-creator="<%= comment.creator.name %>">
+    <div class="author">
+      <h1>
+        <%= link_to_user comment.creator %>
+        <% if comment.is_deleted? %>
+          (deleted)
+        <% end %>
+      </h1>
+      <p>
+        <%= time_ago_in_words_tagged(comment.created_at) %>
+      </p>
+    </div>
+    <div class="content">
+      <div class="body prose">
+        <%= format_text(comment.body) %>
 
-      <% if comment.updated_at - comment.created_at > 5.minutes %>
-        <p class="info">Updated by <%= link_to_user comment.updater %> <%= time_ago_in_words_tagged(comment.updated_at) %></p>
+        <% if comment.updated_at - comment.created_at > 5.minutes %>
+          <p class="info">Updated by <%= link_to_user comment.updater %> <%= time_ago_in_words_tagged(comment.updated_at) %></p>
+        <% end %>
+      </div>
+      
+      <% if CurrentUser.is_member? %>
+        <menu>
+          <% if @post || @posts %>
+            <li><%= link_to "Reply", new_comment_path(:post_id => comment.post_id), :class => "reply-link", "data-comment-id" => comment.id %></li>
+            <% if comment.editable_by?(CurrentUser.user) %>
+              <li><%= link_to "Delete", comment_path(comment.id), :data => {:confirm => "Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"}, :method => :delete, :remote => true %></li>
+              <li><%= link_to "Edit", edit_comment_path(comment.id), :id => "edit_comment_link_#{comment.id}", :class => "edit_comment_link" %></li>
+            <% end %>
+            <li id="comment-vote-up-link-for-<%= comment.id %>"><%= link_to "Vote up", comment_votes_path(:comment_id => comment.id, :score => "up"), :method => :post, :remote => true %></li>
+            <li id="comment-vote-down-link-for-<%= comment.id %>"><%= link_to "Vote down", comment_votes_path(:comment_id => comment.id, :score => "down"), :method => :post, :remote => true %></li>
+            <li id="comment-unvote-link-for-<%= comment.id %>" class="unvote-comment-link"><%= link_to "Unvote", unvote_comment_path(comment.id), :method => :put, :remote => true %></li>
+          <% end %>
+        </menu>
+        <% if comment.editable_by?(CurrentUser.user) %>
+          <%= render "comments/form", :comment => comment %>
+        <% end %>
       <% end %>
     </div>
-    
-    <% if CurrentUser.is_member? %>
-      <menu>
-        <% if @post || @posts %>
-          <li><%= link_to "Reply", new_comment_path(:post_id => comment.post_id), :class => "reply-link", "data-comment-id" => comment.id %></li>
-          <% if comment.editable_by?(CurrentUser.user) %>
-            <li><%= link_to "Delete", comment_path(comment.id), :data => {:confirm => "Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"}, :method => :delete, :remote => true %></li>
-            <li><%= link_to "Edit", edit_comment_path(comment.id), :id => "edit_comment_link_#{comment.id}", :class => "edit_comment_link" %></li>
-          <% end %>
-          <li id="comment-vote-up-link-for-<%= comment.id %>"><%= link_to "Vote up", comment_votes_path(:comment_id => comment.id, :score => "up"), :method => :post, :remote => true %></li>
-          <li id="comment-vote-down-link-for-<%= comment.id %>"><%= link_to "Vote down", comment_votes_path(:comment_id => comment.id, :score => "down"), :method => :post, :remote => true %></li>
-          <li id="comment-unvote-link-for-<%= comment.id %>" class="unvote-comment-link"><%= link_to "Unvote", unvote_comment_path(comment.id), :method => :put, :remote => true %></li>
-        <% end %>
-      </menu>
-      <% if comment.editable_by?(CurrentUser.user) %>
-        <%= render "comments/form", :comment => comment %>
-      <% end %>
-    <% end %>
-  </div>
-  <div class="clearfix"></div>
-</article>
+    <div class="clearfix"></div>
+  </article>
+<% end %>
diff --git a/db/migrate/20150705014135_add_is_deleted_to_comments.rb b/db/migrate/20150705014135_add_is_deleted_to_comments.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd0b2f86b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20150705014135_add_is_deleted_to_comments.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class AddIsDeletedToComments < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def change
+    execute "set statement_timeout = 0"
+    add_column :comments, :is_deleted, :boolean, :null => false, :default => false
+  end
+end