A GRIEVING family has condemned the “warped” thieves who stole from two babies' gravesides.

Will Clarke

A GRIEVING family has condemned the “warped” thieves who stole from two babies' gravesides.

Teresa Coleman and her sister-in-law Naomi Webber share the sad bond of losing a child and make regular visits to tend the graveside of their daughters, leaving flowers and toys.

So the theft of small solar lamps from the tiny plots in Bury St Edmunds cemetery has been particularly hurtful for them and their partners.

For Ms Webber, of Gloucester Road, Bury, the experience is particularly raw because, with her partner Sean Coleman, 20, they lost their daughter Kayley at birth last November.

She was their first child and it was a devastating experience to be told the terrible news after an emergency caesarean.

She said the lights illuminating the gravesides were an important comfort to them.

“We go up there every week to make sure it is all alright,” said the 24-year-old. “We still feel like a family it is just that there is an emptiness without her.

“You would expect the graves to be safe - if they just returned them that would be something. I just can't believe someone would do something like this.”

Ms Coleman, 33, was six months pregnant when she and her partner Chris Taylor, 30, lost baby Angel in August 2005. She explained that the lamps were their way of coping with the trauma.

“I go up to her grave as often as I can,” she said. “To me she is my daughter and she always will be a big part of my life.

“I have mixed emotions and I just want to make the grave as nice a place as I possibly can for her.

“To know someone has been up there and taken the lights feels like a violation. It is as if a burglar has gone through our house.

“I can protect my children I have with me here but I can't protect Angel. Who ever did this must be warped.”

In total four solar lights were taken from the graves between July 27 and August 10.

Inspector Adrian Calton, of Suffolk police, said: “This is a thoughtless and heartless crime, which has caused great distress to the families. I would urge anyone with any information about these thefts to contact us.”

Anybody who knows who stole the lights or has been offered similar ones in suspicious circumstances should call Pc Paul Fox at on 01284 774100 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.