Mother Describes Vandalism of Baby’s Grave as ‘Losing Daughter Again’

A mother from Nottinghamshire has described the targeting of her deceased baby’s headstone by “disgraceful” vandals as an experience akin to “losing her all over again.” Laura Griffin’s daughter, Poppy, was interred at Sutton Cemetery in Sutton-in-Ashfield in 2014, having passed away prematurely at the age of 26 weeks and six days. On Thursday, the teddy bear-shaped headstone at the Huthwaite Road burial site was discovered to be smashed and significantly damaged. Mrs. Griffin, a 30-year-old resident of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, stated that learning of the incident via Facebook caused “traumatic” distress for her family. Mrs. Griffin, who personally funded the headstone through her work, indicated that she has contemplated having Poppy’s coffin exhumed and relocated. “I just cried when I found out,” she said. “My friend had to carry me home because my legs just went from beneath me. Everything was a blur.” “It’s just so traumatic when you’ve got a child that you shouldn’t have lost in the first place and then this happens to their grave.” “I lost her through a traumatic experience and it just took me back to the day I lost her. I had to get over that hurdle then I saved so hard to be able to buy a headstone by myself.” “It’s broken our family.” Nottinghamshire Police reported that the grave was targeted by vandals sometime between 16:00 GMT on Wednesday and 08:00 on Thursday. A fundraising initiative, established to cover the cost of a replacement headstone, has garnered nearly £2,000 for the family. Mrs. Griffin expressed her desire for Ashfield District Council to implement additional measures to prevent future occurrences of similar incidents. She added: “I grieve every day for my daughter. I was 19 when I had her and I lost her. I think about her daily and she’s never far from my thoughts.” “I’m very grateful and if I could thank every individual person [for donating] I would. I am so overwhelmed by the kindness of people who don’t even know me.” “The council needs to do more. I want them to lock more gates. They lock the main entrance but you can get in through the church way.” The council stated that it is “taking this incident very seriously.” Charles Edwards, the executive director for operations at Ashfield District Council, commented: “This disgraceful behaviour is absolutely unacceptable, and we are now in the process of reaching out to the families involved to offer our support.”