A mum is "devastated" after "irreplaceable" tributes to her two late sons were stolen from a memorial bench in Wirral.
The benches, which line New Brighton promenade, are part of a Wirral Council approved project that allows people to leave items such as flowers, balloons and personalised ornaments in memory of lost loved ones. Gina Jacobs, 78, purchased one of the benches to commemorate the life of her son Tony, and has recently added another plaque in memory of her other son Robert, who was stillborn.
Last year, people were outraged when a number of the colourful benches were stripped of precious items left in honour of late family members. In recent weeks, families have once again been left "heartbroken" after tributes have disappeared from the benches.
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Gina told the ECHO: "I went down there on Friday (August 30) and I was astounded. Me and my son walked from our bench on Harrison Drive into New Brighton and, apart from the benches which had things screwed down, every bench has been stripped.
"This did happen last year but not to this extent. It’s not just a couple of benches, there must be hundreds along the waterfront. The thing that absolutely flummoxed me is that whoever took them seem to have cleaned up after themselves because these tributes are tied on with plastic ties that would need wire cutters to get through, but there’s not a trace of these ties anywhere."
Gina took to social media to share her sadness at the disappearance of the items and has since been flooded with comments from others who have seen their own tributes taken in recent weeks. Gina said: “It’s really horrible. There’s probably a few people who don’t actually know what’s happened yet.
"One mum has lost items she only placed there a couple of weeks ago for her lost little one's birthday. Its horrible to go and see the benches bare. You can’t describe that feeling. The only thing we can do for people we’ve lost is have these benches.
"We can’t give them a card at Christmas, we can’t have a party, all we can do is come here. It’s the most horrible feeling seeing them stripped. I loved going to that bench."
Both Wirral Council and the Older People's Parliament have previously told the ECHO that they would never remove the tributes.
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