The family of a 24-year-old from West Belfast who passed away last year say they are considering having her body exhumed and cremated if attacks on the grave don’t stop.
Terri McMenamy took her own life in January of last year and is buried alongside her grandfather in Milltown.
Terri’s devastated mother Donna said she has lost count of the number of items that have been stolen from the grave in the past year and has even got the police involved in a final bid to try and stop the sustained vandalism.
“Terri’s grandfather died 10 months before she did and the grave was never touched,” explained Donna. “But since she was buried, it hasn’t stopped. Ornaments, lights, wind chimes, anything we put there is either stolen or destroyed.
“It was her birthday in February and we brought down helium balloons and attached them to her grave. Two days later they were gone, they had been cut off.”
Donna and her family say they know the grave is being targeted as surrounding graves with the similar memorials are left untouched.
“People tie wind chimes and memorials to the nearby bushes all the time, you can see them there today,” she said as we walked by the grave. “But no other items are removed except ones relating to Terri’s grave. On one occasion an ornament was broken up beside the bushes and the parts were laid specifically on Terri’s grave. We know it’s not random, these memorials are there in their hundreds and all the other graves have ornaments and only our stuff is targeted so we know it’s intentional.
“Someone is doing this specifically to Terri’s grave and we have no idea why. She was so popular, she had a huge funeral and Cavendish Street had to be closed off to cope with the crowds. She really had no enemies so this is shocking as well as sickening.
“It’s got so bad that we have enquired about having her taken out and cremated just to stop the attacks. We don’t understand why this is happening to her grave, I wish someone could tell us why.”
