HEARTLESS THIEVES TARGET GRAVES IN NEWTOWN CEMETERY

HEARTLESS thieves are robbing sentimetal items from graves in the Newtown cemetery, leaving loved ones even more distraught.

The latest incident took place last week when an inscribed heart was taken from beside the grave of a little stillborn girl.

Freya Ava O’Rourke would have been the most loved girl in the world, but instead her parents must make regular visits to her graveside for a chat as they come to terms with their enormous loss.

She passed away two years ago this May 24th, but on numerous occasions tokens the family have placed there, lanterns and candles, have disappeared.

Brendan O’Rourke is Freya’s dad and with the likes of Dan Rooney, help with the personal touch every graveyard needs, adding to the maintenance done by the council.

‘I suppose it’s a way of coping with the grief,’ he states.

Last Wednesday night, his wife, Natasha, was tending their daughter’s grave - mum and child having their usual chat - and left the heart beside the grave. But between 7.30pm and the following morning, somebody entered the sacred area and stole it.

‘It was special because her uncle got it done and it had a personal message on it. It’s tough, it’s terrible when someone takes something like that,’ Brendan adds.

For Freya’s birthday, the family also had a lantern placed at the graveside with a little pink candle. They came back to discover the candle was stolen.

Other people have been impacted too, some people forced to nearly nail items down.

‘People are being forced to leave less and less items and that’s a shame,’ Brendan added.

It has been reported to the council and undercover CCTV has been requested in a bid to catch the criminals.