Friday, June 5, 2009

'Sick' memorial thieves slammed

'Sick' thieves have stolen iron gates from a memorial garden in Chorley, Lancashire.
The cast iron gates were stolen from the garden of remembrance in Withnell Fold which is dedicated to the victims of World War One and Two. Volunteers from the village have been working with Withnell Parish Council and the Groundwork Trust to improve the area and claim the theft is an insult to the war dead from the village. Peter Mallon, one of the volunteers from Withnell Fold, said: "Anyone who knows the area will know what the gardens represent and the theft is very sad. It is as bad as vandalising graves and we are terribly disappointed that this should happen." Mr Mallon said the volunteers were unable to pinpoint exactly when the two gates had been stolen and said the likelihood of them being replaced was very slim. He added: "The gardens were dedicated in the 1950s and that is when the cast iron gates were put in place. They're not huge, but they are made of heavy cast iron and would have taken some lifting - I doubt it is the work of casual opportunists. "I can only assume that the gates have been taken and weighed in as scrap, but we can't be absolutely sure what has happened. "We had been working to improve the gardens with the Groundwork Trust and so initially when they went missing we thought they had been taken away to be painted, but unfortunately that isn't the case. "I got a horrible sickening feeling when I realised they had been stolen as the likelihood of us being able to replace them is slim to nil as we are only a group of volunteers who care. "We haven't got a budget and if we want to do any planting in the garden then we have to throw ourselves on the mercy of people from the village and hope they will give us flowers from their gardens. "The people who have done this are sick."

(Reproduced from Chorley Guardian, 5th June)

GARDIEN TIP: Never under-estimate what might be stolen. Neither weight nor size will deter the professional thieves, who often dress like workmen so that everyone assumes they are legitimate. Hinge caps should be fitted to all gates which could otherwise be easily lifted off their hinges.

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