Grieving parents were devastated after gutless thieves took the headstone from their stillborn baby’s grave.
Grief-stricken mum, Bernadette North, 39, suffered further heartbreak when she went to visit her son Mckenzie’s grave – only to find it was no longer there.
Bernadette and husband David, 41, were distraught to find that the headstone had been entirely ripped off from the concrete below and cast aside.
The mum, of High Wycombe, Bucks, said: “What kind of person would do such a thing?
“It’s not the first time things have gone missing from the grave, but it was the first time it had been vandalised.
“I popped by with the family to tidy up the grave before the autumn kicked in.
“As my husband was cutting the grass next to the headstone, he realised that it had been chiseled away from the ground it was attached to.
“It looks like something that was planned because if it were a drunk, it would have been smashed. If it were a homeless person it might have been sold off.
“It doesn’t make sense for someone to chisel it away.
“Police are investigating and believe it as a personal attack for these reasons.
“But without any CCTV in the graveyard how will we find the perpetrator?”
Bernadette told of the heartbreaking moment she discovered that her son would be stillborn at 37 weeks in March 2012.
The mum felt that something was not right with her pregnancy, so was admitted to hospital at 33 weeks.
Doctors told her she was fine, but she sadly felt the last kick on the 18th of March.
The following day doctors told her how the baby had died, and the mum had to carry him inside her for two days until she was medically induced on March 21st.
The family cradled their beloved baby which they named Mckenzie, before having a quiet burial for him at The Snowdrop Garden, a site specially providing a quiet grieving place for families who have lost babies.
On the anniversary of the day of his birth, the family all chipped in to buy a headstone, etched with the words: “With eternal love we remember Mckenzie Reece North. Our little angel, born asleep.”
The shock of the incident has left Bernadette too scared to visit the grave, in case something else happens to it, so is calling for tighter security in graveyards.
She said: “Over the years, different things have gone missing from the grave like lanterns and ornaments.
“It’s as if he hasn’t been able to rest in peace since he was buried.
“There’s a lot of things that could break me, but I’ve had to stay strong.
“This has completely broken me and brought back everything from the day I lost him – everything has come flooding back.
“Now I am scared of what I will find if it visit the grave.”
Thames Valley Police are appealing to anyone who might have information about the ‘distressing crime’.
PC Richard Lunn said: “I am appealing for anyone who may have seen someone tampering with a gravestone in the past few weeks to come forward.
“This is not the first time this grave has been tampered with and it is distressing for the family of the child.”
