Stone statues stolen from Astwood Cemetery grave prompts calls for CCTV

Craig Cook is now calling for CCTV to be installed in a city cemetery following a theft from his parents' grave.

Mr Cook, of Saddlers Walk, Worcester, was devastated to find two ornamental, stone grey lions were stolen from his mother and father's graves in Astwood Cemetery on Saturday, October 22.

He now wants security cameras posted around the cemetery to deter thieves and has even launched a petition.

The petition currently has 81 signatures with others revealing they have had items stolen off family member's graves.

He said: "We should be allowed to grieve and not worry that our tokens of remembrance are being stolen or our cars are being broken into while we are mourning at our loved one's graveside."

Lions that were stolen from the grave over the weekend. (Image: Craig Cook)

Mr Cook said the thefts are "disgusting and mindless".

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He said: "I think it is just disgusting that this has happened.

"It is such a mindless and heartless thing to do and has had such an effect on our family.

"My children have taken it incredibly hard as my mum always lived with us, it is just so hard to get your head around why anyone would do this.

"CCTV needs to be installed to prevent things like this from happening again."

Mr Cook's mother, Val Cook, died earlier this year, and his father, Neville Cook, died in 2007.

Mr Cook visits Astwood Cemetery every day to pay his respects.

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"This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened.

"We had an incident before where someone was trying to take stuff from the grave but thankfully someone caught it on camera.

"I have gotten to know people who visit the cemetery over the years and I have heard situations where they have had similar problems as well.

"People pay a lot of money to be able to leave tributes to their loved ones at this cemetery and I think it's essential to have CCTV here so these thefts can stop."

A Worcester City Council spokesperson said they have spoken to Mr Cook.

They said: “We have spoken to Mr Cook and we share the shock at this disgraceful act of theft and understand the upset that he and his family must be feeling.

“We will assist the police in any way required in their investigation of this matter.

“While incidents of this nature are very distressing, they are thankfully relatively rare at Astwood Cemetery. There are no current plans to install CCTV at the site.”

You can find Mr Cook's petition by visiting shorturl.at/ftvC0