FLOWERS and a teddy bear have been stolen from the grave of a dead three year old in what his grieving family suspect was a callous Valentine’s Day theft.

Kate Johnson, 25, was devastated to discover the missing items when she visited her late brother’s grave at Langsdale Road Cemetery in Runcorn on February 15.

Now Halton Borough Council – which manages the cemetery – is looking into what took place.

Kate’s older brother Jamie Johnson, died at the age of three from a brain tumour in 1995, when Kate was just a baby.

Kate, now a mum-of-two, still visits his headstone regularly with her family, and had decorated it with sentimental items such as flowers and a teddy bear.

But when she paid her respects the bereaved sister found flowers had been 'ripped out' the pot and the teddy had gone missing. Her family believe they were stolen and passed on as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Kate said: “At first I thought someone in my family had taken them to replace them.

“After I found out it was no one in my family, I was in complete and utter shock, angry and sad.

“It (theft) is not your initial thought because you don’t want to think that someone could be so low and horrible.

” He was three when he died. How could you take something from a child’s grave?

“I called my mum and we began searching but we couldn’t find anything.

“It looked as if someone had grabbed the bunch of flowers and ripped them out of the oasis. The teddy bear my cousin had put on was gone too.

“In my opinion I think someone has just come through and taken it for Valentine’s Day. There’s no security gates, people can just jump over the fences.”

After contacting Halton Borough Council, who manage the cemetery grounds, mum-of-two Kate was told that staff had been instructed to remove any Christmas decorations from all the graves at the site, and there could have been a mix up.

The 25-year-old said she wanted to make other families aware of this policy, which she described as 'insensitive'.

Kate said:  “Someone from the council told me cemetery workers had been ordered to take Christmas stuff off the graves, so there could have been a mix up.

“I don’t think that’s what happened because the flowers weren’t Christmassy.

“But if it is, is I don’t know what gives the council the right to do that anyway.

“You should be able to do what you want with headstones,  what right have they got to take that away? It’s insensitive.

“My brother died of a brain tumour. it just makes you feel sick. All of the stuff he went through as a three year old, the scans, his illness, and he can’t even rest when he has passed.

“My mum is devastated. Obviously it’s her son’s grave. She’s really saddened by it.”

After sharing a post about the incident on Facebook, in which Kate said she suspected the flowers were taken for Valentine’s Day, several people commented to say they’d had similar experiences.

Kate added: “There should be someone patrolling the cemetery or CCTV, other people have said the same thing has happened to them on Facebook.

“I just think something needs to be done. If it was the council and my stuff was taken by them, shame on them, that policy needs to be abolished

“If it’s not the council,  something needs to be done about security in the hope it doesn’t happen to other people. ”

A spokesman from Halton Council said flowers were removed from Kate’s brother’s grave after they had carried out the removal of Christmas decorations, 'so it is unlikely that these particular flowers were removed by the council'.

He added;  “The cemetery is closed and locked during the hours of darkness. Most daytimes there are staff on site, but obviously they can’t be in all places at the same time. There is a CCTV system at Runcorn Cemetery which will be upgraded shortly.

“With regards to the removal of Christmas items, this takes place every year about one month after the festive season. Wreaths and decorations have usually got into a poor state after a month and the council receives many complaints about them. Notices are displayed in advance of any removals taking place.