By Michele Canning Smith

HEARTLESS thugs removed a holy statue from a grave at Strabane cemetery in the latest in a series of attacks on the resting place of Maisie Gilloway.

The grave has been targeted by vandals before, and the family is once again upset at the complete lack of respect that local teenagers have for consecrated ground.

Mrs Gilloway's daughter, Suzanne Porter, contacted the Strabane Chronicle this week to express the family's disgust.

Over the weekend, a statue of Padre Pio was removed from the grave. Mrs Gilloway's son had travelled to Knock to buy the statue for his mother's grave.

bushes

"We searched the graveyard for two days and eventually found the statue in bushes, where it had been thrown," said Suzanne.

She said a gang of young teenagers, whom she believes are from the Head of the Town area, have also been taking stones off graves, using them to hurl at one another.

"They are just destroying graves," said Suzanne.

On the last occasion Mrs Gilloway's grave was targeted, statues of angels were removed.

He daughter said this latest attack had left her father in a very distressed state.

"When I phoned my father he was in a terrible state," she said.

"We do our best to keep the grave tidy but these young people seem to have absolutely no respect.

"They obviously don't have a parent who has died.

"The question has to be asked: How would they feel if this was the grave of their mother or father?"