Memorial to Tanya Burr, killed 15 September 2002

Desecration of Tanya's Grave

Sunday, 18 May 2003 - There's a difference between general wear and tear upon items on graves through sunlight, wind, rain, and even the little kids who visit the adjoining grave who just love the two little cars on Tanya's grave (and who have permission to play with them, so long as they return them) - and finding a newly brought wire-based fake branch about a foot in length, leaves and berries ripped to shreds and scattered over Tanya's grave.

It took someone rather stronger than a little kid to do this - and whoever did it certainly made a job of it. As the photo below shows, it ended up in at least eleven pieces and some of the coiled up pieces (resembling those on a climbing shrub like a grape vine) were pulled straight. All the other things on the grave initially appeared to be the same as when I last saw them two days previously, so it seemed strange that this one item was targeted among many.

As the fact that Kieran and I put this particular item on Tanya's grave on her birthday (12 May 2003) was mentioned on this website, so too am I putting this photo of the damage for others to see - just in case.... 

She was, after all, a murder victim!

The mangled fake branch is now 'reconstructed' (very roughly) and back on the grave, but surprise, surprise, I also spotted that the two little high-heeled shoe ornaments have vanished from just behind the cross with Tanya's name on it. I guess they went at the same time, but can't guarantee it. They normally sit in the same space as the two little cars, which is invisible to people who walk up and down the pathways in the normal course of events. They only cost about $2 each (wouldn't risk putting something valuable there), but that's not the point.

I got involved with trying to stop constant vandalism at Terrace End Cemetery (which Kelvin Grove Cemetery replaced in 1927) in about 1988 and was very involved with the formation of the 'Friends of Terrace End Cemetery' group formed a year or two later for this express purpose. I continue to have that interest in cemetery preservation. Needless to say, heaven help anyone I catch interfering with Tanya's or anyone else's grave for that matter!