Sheffield daughter 'devastated' mum's memorial plaque stolen from City Road Cemetery ahead of Mother's Day

Jamila Turner’s mother’s plaque is reportedly one of a number of the copper memorial plaques to have been stolen from the cemetery. Jamila said: “I was devastated and started crying and I know other people will be very upset too.

"It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday and many people will turn up to the cemetery on Sunday and find [their loved ones plaques] gone and it will be devastating… there were just spaces where the plaque should have been.”

Jamila’s mum, Joan Harvey, passed away when she was 54-years-old. Jamila described her as “a lovely woman and a lovely mother and grandmother”. She said: “She was very young when she died and now the plaque is gone it just takes you back to the day you put it there and it’s heartbreaking.”

Jamila said she was notified plaques had been stolen by her niece, who had seen posts about the thefts on social media. She rushed to the City Road Cemetery from work and found the plaque for her mum had gone.

She said: “I was just devastated. I went to the reception and they said the police were involved and we will have to see what happens… I am hoping a scrap man or someone sees them and recognises them and we get them back.”

The City Road Cemetery is the largest of Sheffield City Council cemetery in Sheffield and is the head office for all the local authority owned cemeteries in the city.