Mother heartbroken after items stolen from son's grave

The items were taken from the Kelvin Grove cemetery.

A grieving mother has been left devastated after discovering items from her son's grave have been stolen from Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North.

Mary Chudleigh visited her son Ray's gravesite recently to find an engraved fantail statue, a potted punga tree and other items had been removed.

The fantail had been erected on a silver stake as a temporary headstone with the words 'Fly Free Ray'. The 19-year-old died on Christmas day last year.

"He hasn't even been gone a year...this is the third theft we've had but the first time anything sizeable has been taken," Mrs Chudleigh said.

"They would've needed a truck or van as the punga tree and pot was quite large."

She described the theft as "soul-wrenching" and now felt unsure about whether to replace the stolen items.

"I had gone there as I was already a bit upset and I just wanted to talk to him uninterrupted. These items were special - they were handpicked and someone else has them."

She said the act had "defied belief" and finding the items missing had left her incredibly distressed.

"I know ours was not the only one targeted... I also noticed a statue missing from one grave as I went back to my car."

Cemetery supervisor Neville Carter said thefts were a common occurrence.

"We have runners, walkers, children... it's a public cemetery so there's no way we can police it all the time."

He said the cemetery had no on-site security and a lot of incidents went unreported.

"Decorating the graves is a way to help people grieve and it's just a shame we have some people with no morals."