Bognor Regis woman devastated after mother's headstone vandalised in potential hate crime

The gravestone, a cross in Chalcraft Lane Cemetery, was smashed to pieces between September 18 and September 20. Since her mother was Polish and the gravestone featured Polish lettering, the woman believes the vandalism could have been racially motivated.

She described speaking to other members of the Polish and Croatian communities who claim to have had mementos stolen from loved one’s graves at Chalcraft Lane, and pointed out that a number of lamps placed near her mother’s gravestone prior to the attack were undamaged – suggesting the vandal set out to target the headstone specifically.

"I consider myself a reasonably strong woman, but when I saw what happened I was in tears – to the point where I couldn’t speak,” she said. “For me it wasn’t just an attack on an item, it was something more personal. It was like somebody was trying to target my mother.”

Her husband explained that his mother-in-law died under ‘deeply traumatic’ circumstances last February, passing away just days after she was diagnosed with advanced cancer.

“For somebody to do something like this makes that situation ten times worse,” he said. “The only thing we’ve found is that the priest, the other people in the cemetery and the police we spoke to have all been very supportive, and that's been massively important for us.”

Anton Matthews, the stonemason responsible for the memorial stone, said he’d never seen anything like it: “In our particular cemetery, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard of any vandalism in twenty years. And this was quite an elaborate stone. It must have been hit fairly hard, I should say with a club hammer or something like that.”

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said the vandalism was reported on October 3, adding: “officers from the Arun Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) are aware of the incident and will monitor any similar reports in future, but there have been no similar incidents reported to us at this time.”

Sussex Police have asked anyone with information about the damage to contact them online, or call 101, citing reference number 603 of 03/10.

Read more

Residents slam plans for Premier Inn in Bognor Regis