Stroud Town Council to foot bill after cemetery 'desecration'

Police are investigating after headstones were damaged at the cemetery in Stroud

A town council says it "has no idea" how it will pay for the repair of historic headstones damaged in a vandalism attack.

Memorials on around 15 graves have been broken at a cemetery on Bisley Road in Stroud.

Town clerk Helen Bojaniwska said: "Such desecration of a cemetery is an insult to those who are buried there."

Gloucestershire Police have appealed for information and said additional patrols would take place in the area.

Stroud Town Council said the memorials belonged to historic graves and tracing living relatives would be challenging

The damage to the headstones was discovered earlier this week and Stroud Town Council, which is responsible for the care of the site, said it was assessing the cost of repairs.

"At the moment, sadly, we have no idea of how we will secure funding to repair the memorials.

"These are historic graves and it will prove challenging to trace living relatives. [It is] a huge disappointment to the town council," Ms Bojaniwska said.

The old cemetery also serves as a nature reserve and is now rarely used for burials, with many stones at the site dating back to the Victorian period, added the town council.