A woman has laid a complaint with police after family found a brass plaque and headstone damaged at the Linwood Memorial Cemetery, Christchurch, last weekend.
She had seen the headstone intact on Friday, 30 January however when her sister visited the grave late afternoon on Sunday, 1 February she found the brass plaque and the headstone damaged.
An attempt had been made to prise the plaque off the headstone - probably with a pinch bar or similar.
The complainant has then walked around the immediate area, the older part of the cemetery, and noticed a large number of brass plaques missing and several others that someone has attempted to unsuccessfully prise off. Senior Constable Kirk Newman says that this is very upsetting for relatives and anyone with information is asked to contact police.