City Road Cemetery: Police issue update after heartless thieves steal memorial plaques from Sheffield cemetery

Thieves struck at City Road Cemetery last week, causing heartbreak for grieving relatives, including Jamila Turner, who spoke of her devastation after a copper plaque dedicated to her mother Joan Harvey was taken.

Councillor Richard Williams, chairman of Sheffield Council’s Communities, Park and Leisure Policy Committee, said: “It has been bought to our attention that a number of plaques have been stolen from the memorial wall in City Road Cemetery. We have reported this to South Yorkshire Police and we are going through CCTV footage to see what was caught on camera.

“We are going through our records to see which plaques have been stolen and will contact families as soon as possible. We are wholeheartedly sorry for the hurt this will cause those affected.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, due to no relevant lines of enquiry being available due to a lack of witnesses or CCTV coverage, this case has been filed pending any further lines of enquiry coming to light.”

It is not the first time City Road Cemetery, which it the largest council cemetery in Sheffield, has been targeted by thieves or vandals. In 2020, a heartbroken mum told how the lights she had placed around her baby daughter’s grave had been taken, with other graves also being looted or vandalised at the time.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.