A FAMILY has been left distraught after ornaments were stolen from their baby’s grave and their angst made even worse when they were told by the council to remove the rest of the items.

Joanne Hurry, 29, and Tim Kilby, 40, of Flowers Close, Ramsey, said they had visited their daughter Kaitlyn’s grave in Ramsey Cemetery, in Wood Lane, every day since she died at eight days old in April 2008.

But on Monday (October 1), Miss Hurry’s mother spotted that a wind chime was missing.

When they contacted Ramsey Town Council to report the missing item, they were told they were going to be asked to remove the ornaments around the grave because of a risk to health and safety.

Mr Kilby said: “It’s not the first time that items have been stolen from Kaitlyn’s grave, it’s the second or third. It is disgusting. But now we have been told that we were going to get a letter from the council telling us to remove all the items because they are against health and safety.

“All they are is some little ornaments, some little windmills and two to three wind chimes on a hook. To be told that we have to remove them after reporting stolen items is quite traumatic.

“We go down with Ella, her twin sister, and our son Robbie, two, and it’s traumatic for them too to see things go missing.”

Kaitlyn and Ella, four, were born on April 19, 2008, but Kaitlyn died after contracting a bowel disease that can affect smaller babies in multiple births.

Town councillor Peter Reeve said: “I have every sympathy with the family. Long before I started on the council in 2010 it was policy for ornaments to be removed as there were complaints the cemetery looked untidy.

“We discussed it and decided that we should continue the policy, which is recommended by the National Association of Local Councils.

“It’s a very sensitive topic and I would like to revisit this subject now we have a case that has come to our attention.”

Ramsey mayor Councillor Lisa Duffy has already stepped in and has arranged for a working party to discuss the topic on October 9.