Theft of flowers from cemetery 'lowest of the low'
The planters that were stolen from St Mary's cemetery
THE theft of flowers from a grave in St Mary’s cemetery has been described as the “lowest of the low” by a bereaved son.
Four planters were stolen from a family grave in the lead-up to the cemetery Mass in St Mary’s recently.
Like many others at the time, the man had carried out work placing the planters on his parents’ grave in June and had also sewn seeds.
The man noticed the planters were gone on a visit on 9 July, having last seen them on 7 July.
He said: “I was very upset at first. Someone had stepped on my parents’ graves to steal them. Then I grew really angry that someone could do it, that they had no respect for the dead. These people obviously have relatives of their own. Would they like it done to them?”
He continued: “It’s the lowest of the low … I don’t like to say it, but they are scumbags.”
The man wanted to raise people’s awareness of theft in the cemetery and asked people to keep an eye out on their family’s graves and those belonging to other families.
“You would hear about anti-social behaviour in the cemetery, but I had not heard myself about thefts,” he said.
“We would have been going up to St Mary’s all the time when I was younger, to the grandparents’ grave, two or three times a week. It should be a safe place, a quiet place to go.”
The man, who did not wish to be identified, believed the stolen planters were subsequently sold on and appealed for people to buy planters from reputable sources.
CCTV and a caretaker are to be introduced to the cemetery to help tackle anti-social behaviour in the area, although it’s not known when this will happen.
The introduction of CCTV was something the man welcomed, although he is understandably dismayed that it is now necessary.
“I hope it’s done sooner rather than later,” he said.
The theft was reported to Carlow gardaí and to local county councillors.
