“Vandals have no heart”

The damage has not only caused heartache for the families of those buried at St Mary Magdalene in Lillington, but they face the cost of paying for stonemasons to secure them back in place.

It has also caused an administrative nightmare for church officials trying to trace relatives in a bid to get the headstones repaired.

The damage to 24 headstones which saw some completely toppled over and some left at angles was discovered last week, said churchwarden Dr Godfrey Carr.

He said: “It is a sense of disbelief when you see it – you can’t believe that anyone would do something so stupid.

“It’s just mindless vandalism, they probably just tried it on one and then carried on.

“The vandalism causes upset and expense for the families and it’s time consuming for us trying to trace relatives.”

One person with a loved one buried in the Church Lane cemetery contacted the Courier.

The person, who asked for anonymity, said: “I went to attend to a family grave and to my horror found headstones pushed over and plant pots thrown about.

“It’s hard enough losing a family member without going to find damage when you visit.

“How would they like it done to their family’s grave – they have no heart to do such a thing.”

The person appealed for people in the area to keep a friendly eye on the graveyard and report suspicious behaviour to the police.

Dr Carr, a retired doctor of philosophy who worked at the University of Warwick, said the damage was carried out in the lower churchyard, which has around 200 headstones.

“They are the newer headstones which sit on a plinth and will have to be put back in accordance with modern regulations, so they will have to be fixed in place.”

The church has urged people not to try and push headstones back into place, saying work must be carried out by stonemasons.

Dr Carr added: “We have good records so there’s a good chance that relatives are traceable, but if we can’t trace them the headstones may have to stay as they are.

“Technically, we can’t put them back up again – we have to get permission from the diocese because we don’t own them.”