WE were extremely shocked at the weekend to find out about the serious acts of vandalism at Poole Cemetery and we extend our deepest sympathies to all those who have been affected.

We were very pleased and grateful that our staff were available at the cemetery on both Saturday and Sunday to try to offer some reassurance to the families affected.

We are further grateful to our contractors who have been helping with some immediate repairs where possible.

We should stress that this very distressing and totally unacceptable occurrence is nevertheless a very isolated incident and we will be reviewing our current security arrangements to see if there is anything that can be done to prevent any future problems.

We would urge anyone with information regarding this crime to get in touch with Dorset Police using the non emergency number 101 and quoting crime ref 26:177

CLLR JUDES BUTT, cabinet portfolio holder for communities, Borough of Poole