Graham Loton at the spot where the bench dedicatd to his mother was stolen at Whitlingham.

A Norwich man is refusing to give up hope of recovering a stolen bench that he had placed in Whitlingham Country Park in memory of his mother.

Graham Loton at the spot where the bench dedicatd to his mother was stolen at Whitlingham.

Graham Loton discovered that the bench had been stolen when going for a run at Whitlingham on Father’s Day last year.

Mr Loton, from Lakenham, made an appeal in the Evening News at the time but a year later is issuing another plea to try to recover the bench.

He said: “There’s always some hope. It could be sitting in someone’s garden, who has bought it unwittingly.

“I would be happy to pay whatever they paid for it because they probably bought it in all innocence, because the person that took it won’t have just burned it.”

Mr Loton’s mother, Elsie Weeden, died in her early fifties from motor neurone disease when he was 15.

There was a small brass plaque on the bench which read: “In loving memory of my mum born Violet Elsie Weeden, died when I was 15 from motor neurone disease.”

Mr Loton is most concerned about recovering the memorial plaque, which he said was “very poignant” for him as his mother’s ashes were scattered in London, where she had lived.

There was no information offered to the police following the original appeal but anyone with information about the bench can still contact the Poringland safer neighbourhood team on 101.

Are you doing something special to remember a loved one? Contact reporter David Freezer on 01603 772418 or david.freezer@archant.co.uk