A MOTHER is distraught after her son's gravestone has been damaged.

Pat Mark, 84, formerly of Hexham but now lives in Newcastle, was visiting her son Michael Mark's grave at Edgewell Cemetery to tidy it up.

Pat claimed she felt something urge her to check on it as she felt 'something was wrong'.

She visited the grave last Friday and saw that a porcelain angel holding a small bird, which was 'super glued on'  to the gravestone, had been broken off. 

The damage brought back a memory of a similar incident that happened three years ago.

Pat said:"I bought the angel as it was something to put on the grave that would be there forever.

"It was to save me coming to the grave and replacing flowers on it every so often as my mobility is not as good as it was.

"It is so sad to see it damaged again.

"This ornament has been in place for over three years and was actually held in place with a very strong resin glue.

"I hope the person who destroyed this grave realises he or she is guilty of desecration of a grave.

"The distress this has caused me is tremendous.

"This is not the first time my son's grave has been desecrated.

"What the person hopes to achieve from such an act, I do not know. As far as I am aware, this is the only grave to be tampered with.

"The matter has been reported as a crime to the police."

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “We received a report of damage to a grave at a cemetery on Edgewell Road, in Prudhoe, which is thought to have taken place sometime between Tuesday, August 8, and Friday, September 8.

"It was also reported that a statue was stolen from the grave site.

“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information should use the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website or call 101, quoting NP-20230908-0376.”