Jill Courtnell

MEMORIAL flowers have been pinched from a churchyard.

Jill Courtnell, a member of St Mark’s Church in Myddelton Square, said she dropped three bunches outside the church for a few moments while she went to drop the rest of her shopping at home. When she returned, one of the bunches had been stolen.

“The church has a time called All Saints and All Souls, and people like to give flowers in a tribute to some of their loved ones,” she said.

“The person I happened to be doing the flowers for was somebody who was remembering her mother and father.”

The sign Ms Courtnell left in the trolley that her flowers were taken from outside St Mark’s Church

All Saints Day and All Souls Day are celebrated on November 1 and 2 respectively, to commemorate Christian saints and martyrs, and remember the faithful departed. “It’s a major church celebration,” said Ms Courtnell, who is on the church’s parish council. “I left the flowers in a metal trolley that’s chained to the church’s fencing. I’ve now put a sign up on the trolley that says, ‘What depth of meanness is reached when roses intended for a memorial vase are stolen from a church?’,” she said.

“To steal from a church? It’s obviously a church. They are flowers. They are obviously bought with some purpose. That’s why it’s so despicable, in my mind.

“Is nothing sacred today? Halloween is great fun, but there are occasions where there are deeper sentiments being expressed.”