Family's distress after Christmas tree taken from graveside
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A LOSSIEMOUTH woman has been left shocked by the callous theft of a Christmas tree from her brother's graveside.
For the past five years local woman Sheelagh Smith (55) has put up a tree with lights at the graveside of her brother, Patrick Souter, who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1997 aged just 27.
Sheelagh and her wider family were devastated when her step-dad discovered on Thursday, December 19 that the tree at Lossiemouth Cemetery, on Inchbroom Road, had been wrenched from the spot and stolen.
She said: "We were upset, angry and shocked. How could someone do that?
"It wasn't even worth a lot of money – about £13 or £14. It's not worth stealing – but obviously it means a lot to us."
She added: "I pegged it in with tent pegs and it was very secure.
"We have looked everywhere around in case it had blown away – but there is no trace of it.
"We are heartbroken."
Patrick is buried alongside their grandparents, so the theft has caused "untold grief" to cousins, aunts and other regular visitors to the grave.
Sheelagh has since laid some flowers at the graveside to replace the tree, which was about half a metre tall, was in a hessian-covered pot, had lights timed to come on between 4pm and midnight, and was topped with a star.
She wants to raise public awareness of such thefts and has reported the matter to police.
She also plans to contact Moray Council after the Christmas holidays about possible preventative measures – such as posters, warning signs or motion sensor lights – to deter people taking items from graveyards.
Sheelagh said: "It's ridiculous to think we should even need that in a cemetery – but it seems to be something that's happening more often."
