When Brittany Benseman, 10, lost her father, Tony, 15 months ago, she put butterfly, dragonfly and hummingbird-shaped solar-powered lights on his grave so "Daddy wouldn't be lonely in the dark".
However, when Benseman's widow Stephanie visited his Upper Wairau Cemetery grave last week, she discovered that the lights and flowers were missing. Items had also disappeared from the graves of her husband's niece and his sisters.
The theft of the lights has left the pair "absolutely devastated".
"It's devastating to think that someone would stoop so low as to steal from the graves," she said.
Brittany had placed the set of lights on the grave after her father's sudden death. "They illuminated and changed colour at night. She put them up there so her daddy wouldn't be lonely in the dark. She was quite devastated to find out someone had stolen it."
The affected graves were in different places throughout the cemetery.
When she noticed the lights missing, Benseman informed police, who told her there was little they could do without physical evidence.
She has since replaced the lights but has glued them to the headstone.
Marlborough District Council reserves and amenities officer Nic Crous said that the removal of anything in a cemetery by members of the public was "an offence by law". "But it is unfortunately not possible to police a cemetery."
By SIMON WONG - The Press
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