OVERNIGHT on Saturday, September 8 or in the early hours of Sunday, September 9, another gravestone in the Holy Cross, Crediton, churchyard was sadly damaged.

A large cross and its attached base was pushed or pulled over and must have taken some effort as the base is of some considerable weight.

When the cross fell it also damaged some of the grave’s surrounding kerb edging.

Most recently another cross gravestone in the same area of the churchyard, the north west corner, was pushed over and damaged overnight on the night of July 24/25.  

A church spokesman said: "We work hard to upkeep the Holy Cross churchyard on a very limited budget and do our best to maintain it as a tranquil green space in our busy town.

"It is very frustrating when things like this happen.

"We would ask those responsible to consider how they would feel if the gravestones being damaged were those of their parents or grandparents.

"Earlier this year one of our 13 churchyard World War One war graves was damaged but we were able to have this one up-righted and repaired from our limited churchyard repair fund but it is unlikely either of the latest two damaged gravestones will be able to be repaired for some considerable time."