Daughter hits out at 'disrespectful' thieves stealing from father's grave (From Enfield Independent)
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Daughter hits out at 'disrespectful' thieves stealing from father's grave
2:40pm Friday 10th August 2012 in News By Hermione Wright
A young woman has hit out at “disrespectful” thieves who are stealing from her father’s gravestone.
Katie Russell is reeling after wicker baskets filled with flowers have disappeared twice from her father’s grave in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Cedar Road, Chase Side.
The 23-year-old, who lives in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, said: “I don’t know whether they have just targeted his grave or anyone else’s, but I just want to say to the person taking things, you are disrespectful and if you are caught, that’s it.”
Ms Russell, whose father died in 1993, says her mother and three brothers are also saddened by the thefts, which have happened over the past three months.
She added: “I am angry more than anything, I feel I can’t put anything on my dad’s grave without feeling it could be nicked and I shouldn’t be made to feel like that.
“I should be able to put a golden chain around the grave without it being stolen. No one in their right mind would steal from a grave, it’s so disrespectful.”
The young woman has reported the thefts to Enfield Council in a bid to catch the people responsible.
Enfield Council's cabinet member for environment, Councillor Chris Bond, said: "Stealing flowers from a cemetery is one of the most despicable crimes I can possibly imagine and our thoughts are with the family affected.
“While such thefts are extremely rare we take them extremely seriously and our staff do everything we can to prevent them from happening.
"We would urge anyone with information regarding this crime to tell the police and help them to track down the people responsible.”
However, he added: "Unfortunately, by their very nature, cemeteries have to be kept open and accessible for the public to use and it is extremely difficult to secure them from the small minority of people who think it is acceptable to thieve items from graves and memorials.”
