A PENSIONER from Evesham has voiced her “devastation” after memorial plaques dedicated to four close family members were stolen from a town graveyard.

Callous thieves prised between 70 and 80 bronze plaques from the Garden of Remembrance at Evesham’s Waterside Cemetery at some point between Tuesday, July 12 and Friday, July 22.

Among the stolen plaques were those dedicated to Jean Cother’s late husband, granddaughter, mother and brother-in-law, who were all cremated.

The 76-year-old discovered the plaques were missing during a recent fortnightly visit to lay flowers at the cemetery with her daughter Mandy Alderton.

The Parklands resident said: “I have never been so devastated in all my life. I just can’t understand why someone would do that. They wouldn’t be worth anything to anybody.

“Me and my daughter went down on Sunday morning - we go down once a fortnight to put flowers on the pots.

“When I got down she [her daughter] was just stood there saying: ‘Mum, they have taken all the plaques.’ We just stood there, we did not know what to do. We rang the police.

“Finding it like that, it was horrible. We were just absolutely devastated. It is just unbelievable.”

The theft comes just one week before the four-year anniversary of the death of David Maurice Cother, who is the late husband of Mrs Cother.

Police are investigating the theft and have appealed for members of the public to report any information they may have about the incident.

Evesham’s mayor, Councillor Fred Kaler, has slammed the theft as “disgraceful” and is calling for help to track down the stolen plaques.

He said: “It is disgraceful, there are no words that can describe it. If I find out who it was I would have no hesitation but to report it.”

Each metal plaque is the size of an A5 piece of paper and is inscribed with the name of a person remembered at the garden.

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The Garden of Remembrance forms part of Evesham’s main cemetery, and is a place where families can scatter ashes of loved ones beneath the ground and mark their memory with a plaque.

Keeley Cullen, administration officer for Evesham Town Council, said: “It is such a horrific thing to do.

“Between 70 and 80 [plaques] were taken. They were all prised away from the wall so it looks quite bare and blank now. It would have taken them a long time.

“We are gradually getting family members ringing up to report it.”

Police officers are asking anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity in the cemetery, or anyone who may have been offered brass for sale in recent days to call 101 quoting incident number 415s of 22 July.

Or information can be given anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or going to crimestoppers.org.uk.