Thieves target cemetery pond

A TRANQUIL pond designed to comfort the bereaved at an Ipswich cemetery has been plundered by fish thieves.

A fountain pump has also been ripped out in the second attack on graveyards in the town within one month.

The latest incident, at around 8pm yesterday, at the Millennium Cemetery, in Tuddenham Road, saw two thieves use fish nets to trawl the pond.

Around £300 of damage has been done and closed circuit television footage of the site entrance is currently being viewed.

The theft was witnessed by a passer-by, who is currently helping the police with their inquiries.

Mike Grimwood, cemeteries manager for Ipswich Borough Council, said: "A general theft is bad enough but when it's done in somewhere like a cemetery it's even worse.

"The fish have been put in there by the families and they're going to be terribly upset when they find out they've been stolen."

It is thought a number of valuable fish had been placed in the pond, including Koi carp.

Mr Grimwood added: "Some of the fish can be worth quite a lot of money and ponds of this size have got a very high quality of fish in them.

"Whether they're stealing for their own personal collection or for their self gain, we just don't know."

Yesterday's incident follows a similar attack at the Temple of Remembrance, in Cemetery Lane, between 9pm on June 6 and 9am the following day.

In this incident, thieves scaled a fence and then cut through a live wire to remove a fountain from a pond.

It is not known whether any fish were stolen during this incident.

In a separate theft a burglar stole 20 fish from a pond at a house in Holbrook Road, Ipswich.

The water was drained and the fish taken between 11pm on Saturday and 3am on Sunday.

Anyone with any information about the thefts is asked to call Suffolk police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.