Council condemns graveyard vandals

The council has strongly condemned the damage caused by vandals to eight gravestones at Ann's Hill Cemetery and has begun work to repair and restore the gravestones.

The gravestones were damaged by spray paint on Friday 5 March. The council is now working with a local stonemason to professionally clean the stonework and make sure there is no lasting damage. Where possible, relatives of the deceased are also being contacted by the council so that the families concerned can be kept informed on the restoration work.

Cllr Philip Raffaelli, Chair of the Community Board at Gosport Borough Council, said: "This is a despicable and disrespectful act of vandalism and those who are responsible should be held to account. Over the weekend a group of local residents kindly came together to begin cleaning up the damage. We are now working with a stonemason to ensure that these gravestones are fully repaired and are keeping families updated, where we are able to trace relatives. Thankfully this kind of vandalism is a very rare occurrence, this is the first time in over 20 years that there has been an incident like this at the cemetery. I would urge anyone with information about this incident to contact the police."

Gosport Borough Council is working closely with Hampshire Constabulary, who are investigating to determine the exact circumstances of the incident. Anyone with information that may assist their enquiry should get in touch with police by calling 101 and quoting 44210085365 or by visiting www.hampshire.police.uk/