THE parents of a baby boy who died during birth are devastated after finding items smashed and toys stolen from his grave.

Carl Sanderson and partner Rebecca Scrivener said they “felt sick” when they discovered vandals had struck at the grave of their son Charlie, who died in January.

“I was absolutely devastated that anybody would do this to a baby’s grave,” said Miss Scrivener, 23.

The couple went to Fulford Cemetery in York last weekend to visit Charlie’s grave, but found the area set aside for children’s graves had been targeted by yobs.

“We noticed that two toys were missing and a glass light had been smashed,” she said. “The office was closed on Saturday so we went back on Tuesday and they said they would let somebody know.

“We then went over to where he was buried and we could see that other graves had things thrown over like cards and toys.

“Some of it was probably the wind, but there were things like flower vases which had been knocked over, smashed and stamped into the ground.”

The couple, who are from the Fishergate area, featured in The Press in January when they held a fundraising night to help them find cash to buy a headstone for Charlie’s grave.

Now with the £1,000 raised, the couple fear the memorial to their first baby will also end up vandalised.

“We just can’t afford another one if this one is smashed,” she said.

Mrs Scrivener said the items stolen this week would have no use to anyone else, but meant a lot her and Mr Sanderson.

“The wall isn’t very big around the area and it’s easy to get over.

“Maybe it’s just kids who have climbed in, but I still can’t believe they would do this.”

The cemetery falls under the responsibility of Fulford Parish Council. Yesterday, chairman Verna Campbell said: “It’s unusual for Fulford; we don’t get that much vandalism. But what sort of person would take things from a baby’s grave?

“My sympathies go to the couple.”