GRAVE CONCERN

By Antoinette Connell

antoinetteconnell@nationnews.com

Flower thieves – whether animals or humans – are adding to the grief of relatives mourning their dearly departed.

The distressing disappearance of flowers from atop the graves, sometimes within less than a day after the funeral, continues to upset family members burying their loved ones.

While some have said they believe that thieves are at the root of the missing blooms, officials at Westbury Cemetery said there is a sheep problem because of a breach in the wall surrounding the centuries-old St Michael burial ground. Some residents confirmed they have seen the marauding flock eating away at the wreaths.

The latest incident has upset some members of the Smith family who laid to rest grandmother and mother Sheila Smith on Tuesday evening with an abundance of floral arrangements proclaiming “Mum” and “Gran”. The sprays included a variety of flowers layering the graves, but by the time daughter Beverley returned next morning before 9 o’clock, she was greeted with a bare grave.

“Something needs to be done. This is not good enough to see all those beautiful flowers there and when you return, you are not seeing any at all. All you are seeing is styrofoam and ribbons,” the still grieving woman said.

On her approach to the grave, she noticed a cemetery worker with a wheelbarrow containing some familiar-looking shapes of pieces of styrofoam.

“When I get by my mother’s grave, I see no flowers. All I see to the two sides were the styrofoam and the bows that were on the wreaths. The only flowers I saw were the ones that were artificial that were still standing,” she said.

Eat flowers

Beverley said when she inquired about what happened to the flowers, she was told the cemetery had a “sheep problem” where the animals of a resident make their way into the burial ground and eat the flowers from graves.

“I asked him if it is a four-foot sheep or a two-foot sheep. He said he’s sorry. I told him it was not good enough and asked him, ‘How do you think I feel that my mother only bury yesterday and I come down here now to this?’”

Sheep to blame

Superintendent of Cemeteries Kathy Layne said it was the sheep that were destroying the flowers and they were not being stolen.

“I am not aware of anybody stealing any wreaths. The oasis is still there and the styrofoam is still there. This is nothing new and the police were already informed about it some time ago,” she said.

She said she was also a victim of the flower-eating flock after her family buried an uncle last week.

“So we understand as I also experienced it myself what they might be feeling. It is not a situation that we can easily address,” she said.

Funeral director Anderson Beckles, who was responsible for Smith’s burial, said he aware of the claims regarding the flowers but could not place blame one way or the other in this particular instance.

He said there have been similar complaints, especially when relatives made quick trips for funerals and just before leaving, dropped by for one last goodbye only to find the flowers gone.

“That is very, very hard and would be another blow to the family. We did get complaints – some people say the sheep eat the flowers and some people say the people come and take them away,” Beckles stated.

He said plugging the holes may be difficult since residents all around the Westbury, Goodland, Richmond and President Kennedy Drive areas have traditionally used the cemetery as a short cut to and from their destinations.

During a visit to the cemetery, a Saturday Sun team encountered Elizabeth Foster who was carefully placing flowers on her mother’s grave. She said it would be awful to have the floral tribute taken either way.