A grieving family has been left furious after vandals smashed a young mother’s headstone.
Sariah Rose’s family attended her grave at Gungahlin Cemetery in Canberra’s north on what would have been her 32nd birthday on Monday.
Ms Rose, whose gravestone was decorated with a large rose quartz in her memory, died of cancer in 2020 aged just 27.
His family arrived at the grave site to find that the precious gemstone was missing and the granite grave marker had been torn from its base.
Police believe the site was vandalized sometime between Sunday and Monday afternoon and that several incidents were reported around the same time.
Another tombstone with two gold-plated hands was stolen from a grave around the same time a woman reported her phone had been stolen.
Police were also told a man was seen attempting to break into a nearby car before fleeing the scene with two other men in a white 4×4 vehicle.
The incident left Ms Rose’s family “devastated” and sparked an uproar on social media with many calling on the vandal to return the stone.
The family of a mother who died of cancer, Sariah Rose, 28, was left furious after a vandal destroyed her headstone on what would have been her 32nd birthday (pictured)
Ms Rose’s family also expressed their fury after her young son and father saw the damage on Monday.
“It’s quite shocking and unbelievable that someone could do this, especially on her birthday,” one family member wrote.
‘Whoever you are… you’ve done a horrible thing and broken many hearts again.
“How can we replace this? If it was born and created through so much pain and anguish.”
One of Ms Rose’s friends took to Facebook to say the site had been “damaged and desecrated” after visiting the previous day to clean it up for the family.
“You are a heartless, shameless and worthless person,” the friend said.
The vandal took a large quartz (pictured) that had been left on the tombstone to remember the mother.
‘You have broken the hearts of a family who will never stop mourning. The worst thing of all is that Sariah’s little boy is completely devastated.
‘He went there this morning to see his mother only to find the act you had committed.
“This has to come back. This has to be undone.”
The missing quartz stone is described as being between 30 and 35 cm tall and having a circumference of 40 cm.
ACT Police have launched a search for three men seen at the cemetery on Monday and are appealing for any information about any other incidents that occurred that day.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
