Tauranga City Council says that recent damage highlighted by a member of the public at the Anglican Cemetery in Seventeenth Avenue is not intentional but just deterioration over time.

A woman visiting her mother's grave at the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery in Seventeenth Avenue was shocked to see that more than a dozen grave sites appeared to be smashed and headstones overturned.

'I've come down to put some flowers on my mum's grave,” says Cathy. 'We lost her during the first Covid lockdown in 2020.

'While I was placing the flowers I saw some gravestones nearby were down. I looked around and saw that a whole lot more have been damaged.”

Cathy noted about a dozen grave sites near her mother's grave had been damaged. As a regular and frequent visitor to the cemetery she believes a person would have caused the damage since her last visit, using a sledgehammer.

'It's absolutely disgusting. They must have used a sledgehammer. I can't believe someone could do this. Who or what sick person would do that?”

Tauranga City Council have responded to a query about the damage and sent staff to check the cemetery.

'Council Cemetery staff have visited the Anglican Cemetery and note there is no new damage or vandalism,” says Tauranga City Council Environment Team Leader Warren Atiken.

'Unfortunately grave sites deteriorate over time – primarily due to the materials used during the construction with often no reinforcement and the grave sinking over time, with the ground no longer supporting the weight of the structure.”

Cathy says that she certainly doesn't want to cause any upset to anyone but stands by her belief that there has been intentional damage.

'I visit my mother's grave regularly. It's happened since last time I was there,” says Cathy.

Warren says that memorials within the city's cemeteries belong to the families and it is their responsibility to keep and maintain the memorials.

'Council addresses health and safety issues with grave sites and memorials as they occur,” says Warren.

Tauranga Anglican Cemetery is located at the junction of Seventeenth Ave and Grace Rd in Tauranga South and has 1993 graves. Tauranga City Council which manages a number of cemeteries around the city including the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery do not have CCTV coverage in the area around the Seventeenth Ave site.

The burial records at Tauranga Anglican Cemetery start from the first burial on May 8, 1881, of Augusta Elizabeth Corlett, wife of BS Corlett in Row 2, Section 1.