A Fife dad says he was "taken aback with emotion" upon seeing sick graffiti on a memorial to his stillborn son.
Ian Stewart has spoken about the emotions stirred up by the cruel vandalism at the Snowdrop Memorial Garden at Dunfermline Cemetery.
Images emerged on Saturday morning showing heartless messages reading "1 less rat" and "f*** yous" on graves and memorials. The graffiti has since been cleaned off by volunteers, and police are investigating.
Ian told the Daily Record of the hurt he felt upon becoming aware of the damage.
His son Benjamin Stewart was premature and stillborn on June 17, 2004. His name is immortalised on the memorial, and Ian, along with wife Clare and two children Duncan (12) and Faith (5) regularly visit.
Ian told the Record: "When I first saw the posts and reports of the damage and vandalism I was taken aback with emotion.
"After 17 years you’ve done all the firsts - birthdays, Christmas etc - so when something so unnecessary and disgusting like this happens it really brings up and stirs up a lot of pain.
"To lose anyone you love is hard but for a parent to bury their child seems like the biggest injustice in the world.
"This vandalism doesn’t hurt as much as losing Benjamin but it certainly has opened some very old, painful wounds.
"Stillbirth sadly is still something of a taboo subject. I think that’s why these gardens are so important to families.
"Our children have a place in the world, there is something to say they were loved and valued and that their lives were precious, however short they were.
"Those words on the stones may be simple but they mean and say so much 'For all our babies, briefly known, forever loved'."
He added: "It will be 17 years in June since what should have been the best day of my life, the birth of my first child, became the worst.
"For some of us we don’t have many photos or keepsakes. For some of us these gardens and memorial stones are all we have. A place to remember. Sadly some of the only proof that our children existed."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 10.05 am on Saturday, 1 May, 2021, police were contacted with regard to a vandalism at a baby memorial within Dunfermline Cemetery, Halbeath Road, Dunfermline.
"Officers have attended and the graffiti has been removed.
"Enquiries, which are at a very early stage, are continuing."
