ANOTHER family has been left devastated by the loss, over the Christmas period, of a memorial tree stolen from a grave at Alton Cemetery.

James and Alison Fitzer say the tree, a flowering cherry standing around four feet tall and growing in the ashes of James’ parents, was torn from the ground sometime between December 14 and the Christmas break, causing the family “enormous grief”.

According to Alison, the ashes of her parents in-law, both former Alton town mayors, Robyn and Roger Fitzer, were scattered in the roots of the tree, which was chopped down and stolen sometime over the festive period.

News of the incident comes just days after the revelation in last week’s Alton Herald of the theft of a memorial stone from the cremation garden at Alton Cemetery in the run-up to Christmas – although the two are in different parts of the cemetery and, while a coincidence, are not thought to be linked.

Of the tree, which stood in the main part of the cemetery, Alison said: “We are not certain exactly when the tree was stolen, but from our timeline of events and information obtained from the public it must have been taken in December, breaking our family’s hearts when visiting the memorial at Christmas and seeing the tree no longer there.

“The tree was buried with the ashes of both Robyn and Roger in the roots when we first planted it, so you can understand how upset we all are.”

Family friend and fellow town councillor Pam Jones said: “I am very upset about what has happened as both Roger and Robyn were good friends. I understand that East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) is looking into it.”

The cemetery is owned and managed by EHDC and cemeteries manager Lyn Hayler has been investigating the theft.

In a statement, she said: “We have spoken to the family who are understandably devastated at the deliberate removal of this tree. The loss of a treasured commemorative memorial like this can have a serious impact on grieving loved ones.

“We have investigated the incident thoroughly and established that the tree was not cut down in error by maintenance crews. During the course of our investigation we have visited the cemetery and spoken to neighbouring grave owners.”

And she added: “In the meantime, our priority is to support the family in any way we can and we have offered to replace the tree free of charge as a gesture of condolence.”

While appreciative of the gesture, Alison says it really doesn’t help.

“The original tree had both Robyn and Roger’s ashes buried into its roots, so a new tree would just not be the same for us. We are also worried that even if we did go ahead with the new tree, who’s to say the next one would not also be taken down?

“This is why we are so desperate to find out what happened.”

When asked about the theft of the memorial stone from the cremation garden, Lyn Hayler’s response missed last week’s deadline, but she said: “This is the first time I have ever heard of the theft of a gravestone in more than 20 years working with cemeteries so it is an extremely rare occurrence.

“Alton Cemetery is open access at all times but it is regularly patrolled by police community support officers.”

Having expressed EHDC’s “deepest sympathy for this callous act”, although a big coincidence, there is not thought to be any connection between the theft of the cherry tree and the disappearance of the memorial stone and, according to an EHDC spokesman, there is still hope that the original memorial stone may be returned.

Lyn Hayler is asking anyone who may have information about the tree to get in touch with her on 01730 2342895, or to contact Alton police on 101, quoting crime reference 44180007207.