Thieves steal gifts from baby's grave
A COUPLE who lost their first child at birth was dealt another cruel blow when someone stole gifts from the baby's grave.
Ian Broadbent and his partner Salu "Sharon" Faatuli buried their son, Urban at the Goodna Cemetery following a memorial service at Heritage Park Chapel on October 12.
The grieving couple returned to the grave the following Saturday and Sunday, but were unable to go back on Monday.
It was on Tuesday last week that they discovered the theft of several stuffed toys that had been given as gifts to the baby from loved ones.
Mr Broadbent said he failed to understand why anyone would want to steal from a grave site, let alone that of a child.
"I was that angry when I found out about this last Tuesday," he said.
"We just think that our child deserves better than this. You just don't take things from a grave - especially an infant's grave - it is disrespectful."
Little Urban passed away shortly before his birth on September 30 due to a knot that formed in his umbilical cord.
It was heartbreak for his parents, who were looking forward to welcoming the new addition to the family after battling hard through 2011, when their home was destroyed by the floods.
Ms Faatuli went to nearby second hand stores in the hope that someone might have pawned the items, but there was no sign of them.
The couple said all of the stolen items had been pegged down so they couldn't blow away in the wind.
Goodna Cemetery Trust secretary Paul Tully said he was disgusted by the theft.
While there had been cases of vandalism over the years, Cr Tully said he could not recall a previous instance of toys being stolen from a child's grave.
"This is a bloody disgraceful act," Cr Tully said.
"What has society come to when a person has got to take treasured items off a child's grave? It doesn't get much lower than that."
