Scum think it’s OK to steal from graves

The dead, it would appear, are no longer allowed to rest in peace – because someone else can’t be bothered to do an honest day’s work.
Haggate Baptist Church graveyeard where twelve flagstones have been stolen from graves.
Photo Ben ParsonsHaggate Baptist Church graveyeard where twelve flagstones have been stolen from graves.
Photo Ben Parsons
Haggate Baptist Church graveyeard where twelve flagstones have been stolen from graves. Photo Ben Parsons

The news last week that stone flags from the tops of seven grave vaults in Haggate Baptist Church graveyard is truly appaling.

And it just goes to prove that some people will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid actually getting a proper job.

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Whoever is responsible for this callous act is clearly not lazy – York stone flags really do take some shifting.

But they are evil, dishonest and despicable with absolutely no thought for the feelings of the families of those interred.

I feel nothing but sympathy for those families and I cannot begin to imagine the feelings of shock, horror and utter dismay they must be going through.

But I am sure that this is not the first time this has happened in Haggate.

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And it must be heart-breaking for my friend and Church Deacon Michael Eccles and others involved in the everyday life of that church.

They are left picking up the pieces of a soul-less, heartless act perpetrated by people with little, or absolutely no right to be classed as part of a civilised society.

My own father’s church was subject to a couple of burglaries and other thefts that left him with no choice but to lock the church doors. It was an act of surrender to the crooks in our society and a bitter pill for him to swallow.

Other churches and chapels have suffered graveyard vandalism in recent times.

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All of which is a horrible admission of the fact that huge chunks of our society have absolutely no respect for the church and what it stands for.

Desecration for the sake of a few minutes of fun can only be the product of a warped mind.

But stealing the flags off the top of vaults in a graveyard?

How low can people go in their pursuit of a fast buck that beats the taxman?

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I hope that those involved feel the full force of the courts and don’t get away with a slap on the wrists.

To make sure that happens, you must tell the police if you know anything about this latest theft.

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