A grieving mother was heartbroken to discover her son’s tombstone was removed just days after what would have been his 7th birthday. 42-year-old Jo Corbett-Weeks spent months saving nearly $5,000 to purchase a new tombstone featuring a teddy bear and a star inscribed with a poem. Her son Max died when he was only 4-years-old from complications due to epilepsy. The touching tribute reads:
Max
Our Brave Little Soldier
Age 4 years
Son Brother Grandson Nephew & Cousin
You are our star in heaven
Lighting up the sky at night
We see your star all twinkling
It is such a lovely sight
This star has been especially made
To help keep you close to us
Because we love & miss you
Our Darling Maximus
His special tombstone was erected on his birthday, and then removed 3 days later after another family complained that it didn’t match the aesthetic of the Great Malvern Cemetery in Worcestershire. Max was buried in the adult section of the cemetery to be closer to other family members. The Malvern Town Council responsible for keeping the cemetery says that the shape of this tombstone was unacceptable for the adult area, but would have been fine in the children’s cemetery. According to the Daily Mail, the council released the following statement,
We have a conformity of shapes in our lawn cemetery. We were contacted by people who objected to the shape. The longer it stayed up, the harder the process would have been.
It was a very difficult decision to remove it but one we had to make straight away. The stonemason in this situation did not have permission to put the stone up – and the stone is not in keeping with the graves in that area. By not following the correct process he has caused considerable distress to both families.
The council is currently meeting with the Corbett-Weeks family to discuss the design of a new tombstone.
(image source; Daily Mail)