Aucklanders pay respects to desecrated graves

Families may finally find closure after the ruthless destruction of infant graves at the Papakura Cemetery.

A service was held this morning at the cemetery in commemoration of around 30 to 40 infant graves that were desecrated by what police believe was a lone vandal earlier this month.

Council cemeteries manager Catherine Moore said the service would help families to recover from the incident.

"It is about some healing and some closure and feeling like they can put this event to rest," she said.

People had been visiting the site daily to help restore the graves and clean up the site. Flowers had also been donated by members of the public for families to place on the graves of their loved ones.

Ms Moore said the publication of CCTV footage of the assailant had put families' minds to rest that the incident hadn't been caused by the council or a group of teenagers.

"It was quite unusual in terms of vandalism. People expect that things will be damaged and maybe thrown around a little bit but to have the piles of decorations was quite unusual and I think that was hard for all of us to understand what had happened," she said.

"Unless we manage to track down who this person is, I don't know if we will ever fully understand what their motivation was. For now it is just a waiting game."

Over 100 family members of those buried and members of the community attended the service.

The service began with a blessing over the damaged graves followed by speeches from church ministers and Auckland Mayor Len Brown and National MP Judith Collins.

Vanessa Olsson whose sister is buried at the cemetery said the service was "beautiful".

"After the site was cleaned up there was this feeling of love here. And it also brought a lot of families back here that haven't been here is a long time," she said.

Rayella Te Ringa, a family member of an infant buried at the site, said the service had helped families to feel "a little more at ease" with what had happened.

"The family are feeling a little bit more at peace now. Still it won't stop [the assailant] from comming back though will it," she said.

Mayor Len brown called the ceremony ,"very, very local and very Papakura".

"There has been a focus on Maori protocal which is appropriate because there are a lot of Maori families here but it is very family. I have talked to a lot of people this morning and I think for a start the initial response would have been one of outrage and vengence but I think working together has helped them to find peace around that," he said.

"Even though this was now specifically a burial, it has all the hallmarks of it. It was very spiritual and peaceful and I am sure many of those families will be back in the right place as are those graves."

The matter is still under investigation by the Police. No arrests have been made.