Thieves steal memorial character from baby’s grave at Banbury cemetery

The theft of a memorial character from a baby’s grave at a Banbury cemetery has left the boy's mother hurt and heartbroken.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Zena Bough discovered the theft of the concrete Mickey Mouse character from her son’s grave when passing the Hardwick Hill Cemetery at the top of the Southam Road on Saturday April 25.

It was the second time a memorial had been stolen from her son's grave at the cemetery in the last two years.

She said: "My heart sank on 25th April 2020 when I noticed it had again been stolen. The mess of concrete is left on the base and just looks pretty awful!

Mickey Mouse memorial stolen from the grave for Shaqil Hussain Hafiz in BanburyMickey Mouse memorial stolen from the grave for Shaqil Hussain Hafiz in Banbury
Mickey Mouse memorial stolen from the grave for Shaqil Hussain Hafiz in Banbury

"I last time I saw Shaqil was just before lockdown, and it was there."

Her son, Shaqil Hussain Hafiz born February 2, 2011, stillborn due to kidney failure.

The first memorial character stolen was a Mickey Mouse wizard, which was stolen on February, 10, 2018, the anniversary of when he was actually laid to rest.

Zena posted the first theft on Facebook, but didn’t report it to police as she thought someone would put it back. But the memorial was never returned.

She added: "I sourced another wizard Mickey Mouse (took quite along time to find another). I got paint made up to match his headstone and painted it lovely. This was put up on Shaqil's grave 22nd July 2019.

"Although, this time it was cemented down on the base of his headstone so it couldn’t be taken again."

But the memorial was taken anyway last weekend.

Zena said: "This statue is extremely heavy so would’ve needed someone with a very strong back. The person must’ve had to have stood all over my son's grave and look at his picture while ripping it up!"

Thames Valley Police are investigating the reported stolen Mickey Mouse statue taken from a grave in Hardwick Hill Cemetery.

Anyone with information can get in touch with police by making a report online quoting reference 43200125314.

Alternatively, if they do not have access online, they can call 101.

Zena said: "I’m so angry and hurt at the amount of disrespect a human being could carry, it’s unsettling.

"I will try and source another one as I won’t have my little boy's resting place suffer because somebody doesn't have a conscience."

*A message from the Banbury Guardian Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper when you do your weekly shop.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.