Vandals rip lights off grave at Norwich cemetery
A mother whose teenage daughter is buried at Earlham cemetery has been left in tears after vandals broke the special lights she put on the grave for Christmas.
Ruth Lovett's daughter Rosemary Fish was just 14 years old when she died of a brain tumour on December 9, 1994.
Since then the 53-year-old, who has no other children, has kept the grave tidy and has regularly placed flowers beside it. This year she placed LED lights on the grave just a few days before the 16th anniversary of her daughter's death, and in preparation for Christmas.
But shortly afterwards the lights were damaged and later on vandals returned to the grave to finish the job, damaging the solar panel which powered the lights and china ornaments placed around the grave.
Mrs Lovett was so incensed she contacted the police and is now looking for help in catching the culprits so that they cannot damage somebody else's grave.
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Mrs Lovett, who lives with her second husband Peter in Custance Court, off South Park Avenue, said: 'Who would do anything like that? These people have just got no feelings for anyone else at all. They are just animals.
'This is the grave of my little girl, who was my best friend as well.
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'To think that they would go to her grave and do this is unbelievable.'
She added that she was unsure whether to replace the lights, which no longer worked.
'I don't know if I will replace them, as it could happen again,' the dinner lady at the Clare School in South Park Avenue added.
'But another woman whose child is buried at the cemetery said something similar had happened to her before, and she had vowed not to let them defeat her, and had put some new lights back.'
A Norfolk police spokesman said it happened between December 5 and 7.
Anyone with information should call PC Richard Cox at Norfolk police on 0845 456 4567 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Have you been the victim of heartless criminals? Contact David Bale on 01603 772429 or david.bale2@archant.co.uk
