Jessica Ryder, 9, was heartbroken when thieves stole mementos from the grave of her baby sister Gracie, who died when she was just 23 weeks old.
She had placed items, including a fairy and butterfly lights, on her sister’s grave, only to find they had disappeared when she next returned to the Widney Manor Cemetery at the end of last week.
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To try and get the little keepsakes back, the 9-year-old decided to write a letter and place it on the grave.
It read: “Please give my baby sister’s fairy and butterflies back. It’s made us sad to see them gone.
"No more broken hearts.”
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Gemma Ryder, Jessica and Gracie's mum, told the Birmingham Mail: “How can anyone be so heartless?
“It’s hard enough having to explain to your nine-year-old daughter why we’re burying her sister and now she has to deal with this.
“Jessica has written on the message ‘no more broken hearts’ - this is what we always say to each other. She said to me the other day - ‘when will there be no more broken hearts mummy?’ She just can’t understand why anyone would want to do this."
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A Solihull Council spokeswoman has also condemned the crime, which is just one in many of a spate of thefts in the cemetery.
She said: “It is difficult to understand why anyone would want to steal items from the cemetery and show such complete disregard for people mourning the loss of a loved one.
“In incidents such as these we encourage residents to contact the police and we will do what we can to help them investigate the matter.”
Stock image used.