Police probe after heartless vandals repeatedly trash woman's grave and steal from it

The grave of a woman, whose identity has not been revealed, has been targeted on at least two occasions, since she was buried at the church of St Thomas the Martyr in Up Holland last summer.

Other news: Wigan man admits to murdering his wifeHer family have been frequent visitors to the graveyard in Church Street since she was laid to rest, leaving floral tributes and other personal effects. But they have sometimes arrived to the horrifying sight of the desecrated grave.

On the first occasion, in August, flowers were reportedly ripped from their pots and solar lights, which illuminated the headstone, were smashed.

Since then, a number of similar incidents have occurred, including some of the lights being stolen and a shepherd’s crook being damaged, but the motive behind the disgusting crimes have not yet been revealed.

Reverend Paul Lock, Priest in Charge at the church, urged vigilance among churchgoers in the wake of the incidents, and for them to report any suspicious behaviour in the graveyard to the police.

He said: “I’m really sorry to hear of the damage and theft from our graveyard.

“We know that our graveyard is one of the ways people remember their loved ones and we encourage people to do this freely, so by its very nature our graveyard is very difficult to keep secure.

“We are truly blessed that our community plays such a vital role in the upkeep of our church and its surrounding environment, including the graveyard.

“Please would everyone in the area remain vigilant and to get in touch with the police to help prevent such incidents happening to anyone else.

"Obviously we would like to consider installing CCTV as a preventative measure but the expense is beyond the church’s means at the moment.”

He added: “I can only imagine the distress the family must feel about the damage to the grave and the loss of the tributes which have such a great emotional meaning.

“The church is for those who have sinned and those have been sinned against.

“While we cannot condone their criminal acts, I’d like to appeal to those carrying out these isolated acts of damage to consider the impact of their actions, apologise to the family and make amends.”

An investigation into the damage has also been launched by Lancashire Police, who have increased patrols through the area as a result.

A spokesman for the force said: “We received two reports of damage to a grave located in the grounds of the church of St Thomas the Martyr in Up Holland - one on August 20, 2018 and one on February 2, 2019.

“We would like to reassure the public that crimes of this nature are taken very seriously and we have increased patrols in the area as a result of these reports.

“We are also planning to revisit the person who initially contacted us about these incidents, and if they report any further incidents these will be recorded and investigated.”

They added: “If any suspects are identified they will be dealt with robustly.”

Anybody with information about these incidents is asked to contact the police on 101, quoting log number 1532 of August 20 2018 or 350 of February 2 2019.