A GRIEVING son has made a heartfelt plea for information after a crystal vase was stolen from his father’s grave.

Paul Roberts, from Carmel, was devastated to learn that thieves had desecrated the grave of his war veteran father, David Roberts.

The vase, a family heirloom, had sat at Pantasaph Cemetery, near Holywell, following Mr Roberts’ death in September 2009 at the age of 89.

Son Paul said the theft has had an untold impact on the family.

He said: “It has been traumatic and very upsetting for us.

“It’s a sorry state of affairs when you can’t even put flowers on your dead father’s grave.

“How low can you stoop?”

The vase, worth around £50, is 10 inches high with an hourglass design and contains silk roses and petunias.

It is thought it was taken between noon on January 3 and 3pm on January 6.

Mr Roberts, 64, visits his father’s grave twice a week with his mother Mary, 87, and sister Yvonne Evans, 62, but is hesitant to replace the vase.

He said: “If I’m passing the cemetery, I will always pop in for five minutes and see dad.

“If I replace the vase the chances are that the same thing could happen next week.”
David Roberts joined the Welsh Guards aged 20 and was serving in Boulogne, France, when he was captured and taken to the Stalag 20A camp at Thorn, Poland, in 1940.

He left the Guards aged 25 and worked at Courtaulds textile mill in Greenfield until his retirement.

He died following a series of strokes in 2009.

Mr Roberts paid tribute to his late father.

“He was a tremendous man,” he said.

“He was a placid man but he was a fighter. The day he was released from the camp he had to march 800 miles in freezing conditions but he survived.

“He had seen an awful lot in his time.”

Mr Roberts is hoping an appeal in the Leader will play on the conscience of the thief.

He added: “I would tell the thief to really think about what they are doing and why are they doing this.

“There must be somebody out there who saw something or knows of the whereabouts of the vase.

“I just can’t believe somebody would do this to my dad.”

Police are appealing for information on the whereabouts of the crystal vase.
Anyone with information can call PC Phil Roberts at Flint Police Station on 101.