Distraught

Mrs Hamilton said she had missed her regular visit to the grave of her parents and uncle and aunt last week, and when she visited the grave on Monday, she discovered it had been interfered with. She said the sight that met her had reduced her to tears.

“The flowers I left have all been stolen and the vases are also gone. The grave is completely derelict,” she said.

“My mother and father are buried there, Robert and Margaret Throne, as is my Uncle William and his wife, Martha,” she said, continuing: “I get down to the grave twice a month, but did not go last week because of the appointment of the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor, so I only got to go on Sunday. When I saw it I just burst into tears. I’m just devastated, distraught to think that someone could do that to a grave.”

“I just cannot understand how anyone, or any young person can get satisfaction out of wrecking a grave. The people who did this, they have family of their own. Would they like that done to them? Some day they will be in a grave themselves and I hope nothing like this ever happens to them. I don’t want anyone to ever feel the way I feel at the moment, not even the people who did this to me,” she said.

Appealing for those responsible for targeting the grave, she said: “Please treat everyone’s grave with respect, irrespective of what graveyard you happen to be in. I have been told that there is a problem with young people treating the graveyard as a drinking den and that the church is taking steps to address this with the Gardai and have the graveyard patrolled.

Fighting tears, Mrs Hamilton added: “I just want to appeal to those responsible not to treat people’s graves with disrespect, and ask them to treat everyone they meet the way they would like to be treated themselves”.