Vandalism of Strabane graves condemned

A STRABANE woman who only buried her mother a month ago has hit out at ‘disgraceful’ acts of vandalism against several graves in the town.

At least five graves in the graveyard at St Mary’s church in Melmount were reported to have been damaged, with flowers being destroyed and ornaments being removed.

Rose McColgan, whose mother passed away in June, was devastated when arriving to her grave on Thursday to see what had happened.

“I went in last night and all the flowers were taken out of the wreaths and I had to stand on top of the grave to try and repair them,” Rose told the Tyrone Herald.

“It was a disgrace and it wasn’t only my mum’s grave but at least four others it happened to as well. That’s only the ones that I saw.

“It was really bad so it was, a disgrace and these people should have more respect for those in the graveyard.

“Have they no respect for the families or the people in there? At the end of the day we all end up there some day and it’s just so sad that they would do this.”

INVESTIGATION

The PSNI are investigating the vandalism and have appealed to those responsible to stop.

Constable Brown said, “A report was received at approximately 1pm on Friday that personal items had been moved off the graves to which they belonged, and placed on different ones.

“It was further reported that flowers had been taken off graves and subsequently damaged or destroyed.”

Constable Brown added, “A graveyard is a place where people come to pay their respects. This kind of anti-social behaviour will have a significant impact on individuals, families and communities, and I would appeal to those who are carrying it out to stop.”

A similar incident occurred in Melmount more than a year ago, with Sperrin SDLP councillor Jason Barr calling the behaviour “totally unacceptable”.

“Some of these people only buried family members a few weeks ago, and then turning up to their graves to find that is not good for any family. It’s just disgraceful,” Barr said.

“Hopefully whoever has done it will be caught and the police will be able to deal with them. Some of the families are devastated that this has happened to them.”

Police are appealing for information about the incident and have asked anyone with information to contact 101, quoting reference 905 of 09/07/21.