Stolen 'Simply The Best' memorial returned to grave

[Bonnyloyal]

A Rangers-daft family are celebrating after a thief who stole a treasured plaque from a graveside had a change of heart.

Jayne Cockburn, 38, was left devastated after discovering the memorial stone dedicated to her late father Ian had been taken from his grave at Tranent Cemetery in East Lothian in February this year. The plaque features the Ibrox club's badge along with the words 'Simply The Best'.

Jayne, from Hawick in the Scottish Borders, said she and relatives had been left "sad and angry" at the cruel theft - but they've now been left stunned after discovering the stolen memento was returned to the spot where it was taken from last week. And the thief has not only brought the plaque back - but they have fixed damage the stone suffered before it was stolen.

Jayne said: "I've no idea when it was returned. My dad's cousin was in the cemetery at another family member's grave and noticed it was there. The plaque was actually broken in half when taken. It's now returned fixed and fixed onto a slab.

"We are going down to get it cemented into the ground so it can't be taken again. Maybe someone has taken it and fixed it for themselves then realised it's [the story] is all over the papers so decided to return it - or it has been taken and fixed then returned as a good gesture to us. We are just so happy it's back though. We never thought we would ever see it again."

Jayne said her Rangers supporting dad Ian lived in Hawick but spent much of his time in East Lothian where his parents had lived. She said he wished to be buried at Tranent Cemetery next to his son, also named Ian, who died when he was young.

The plaque has now been returned to the graveside (Image: Alexander Lawrie)

Ian, 71, passed away following a heart attack in June 2018 and regularly attended Rangers matches with his son John who organised the plaque following his father's death. Jayne added: "The Rangers plaque was laid by my brother. The connection with Rangers is purely a father and son bond who share an interest in the football club and team.

"They attended games together in dad's better and healthier years and had a bond over football. My brother was particularly upset about it just vanishing into thin air."

 

[laudrup71]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

 

[alex wright]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

I’m choosing to believe that too.

 

[Monty_greenock34]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

Taking something without permission is stealing. If the sole purpose was to fix it then a wee note saying so would have been the best thing to do.

If the lady went and bought another to replace it not realising its coming back then shes out of pocket.

 

[Clarence]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

Stealing from a grave is the fu.cking lowest thing possible.

 

[Eddie Doc]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

It looks that way. Someone has repaired it and brought it back, maybe they could've left a note to say what they were doing but you don't know how the family would react to that. It's a good ending anyway.

 

[andy17x]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

Yup, whose stealing a broken stone?

 

[Sheik Ma Shammy]

It seems like they took it to fix it, maybe the note they left blew away.

I stay near a cemetery and the amount of people who steal the lights from it for their gardens disgusts me.

 

[Professor Yaffle]

Happy ending to what initially look scummy but was actually a good deed.

 

[Bristol_bnose3]

Maybe just me but they've got no right touching anything on a person's grave, good deed or not.

Who's to say the family didn't just want it left the f88k alone, damage and all?

 

[Simply a Bear]

It seems like they took it to fix it, maybe the note they left blew away.

I stay near a cemetery and the amount of people who steal the lights from it for their gardens disgusts me.

Things like that make me angry. Stealing from graves. Is nothing sacred anymore in this world?

 

[Sheik Ma Shammy]

Things like that make me angry. Stealing from graves. Is nothing sacred anymore in this world?

No, it doesn't seem to be.

 

[RodBar]

Maybe a bitter rheptile then seen the outrage and shat it.

 

[Talktalk]

I had raised £100 to help pay for a replacement but the cousin let me know that it had been returned so the £100 was put to a cancer charity based in Musselburgh that Julie Menzies raises funds for after her surgery to fight the illness, her fund raising day made over £2000 .


Delighted for the Cockburn family and after talking to John I knew how much the plaque meant to them all.

 

[Expatbear]

I am choosing to believe this was a well meant poorly conceived gesture that backfired.

Anything else would just be low order in the extreme and a sad indictment of our society.

 

[Expatbear]

I had raised £100 to help pay for a replacement but the cousin let me know that it had been returned so the £100 was put to a cancer charity based in Musselburgh that Julie Menzies raises funds for after her surgery to fight the illness, her fund raising day made over £2000 .


Delighted for the Cockburn family and after talking to John I knew how much the plaque meant to them all.

Fair play pal. A great effort.

 

[Blue Jay]

Maybe a bitter rheptile then seen the outrage and shat it.

We'll probably never know mate, like everybody else I'm just delighted the family got things sorted out. If, as you say, somebody took it, then returned it after the outrage it caused, let's hope it makes them and any other moron think long and hard before sinking so low in future.

 

[GourockBlue50]

I had raised £100 to help pay for a replacement but the cousin let me know that it had been returned so the £100 was put to a cancer charity based in Musselburgh that Julie Menzies raises funds for after her surgery to fight the illness, her fund raising day made over £2000 .


Delighted for the Cockburn family and after talking to John I knew how much the plaque meant to them all.

Superb effort. Well done.

 

[Bluebluecee]

Return it or spend the rest if your days in a wheelchair?

 

[Johansen]

That's a positive story. I like that - although it's unfair to call the person that took it a thief. Clearly they're someone who (I reckon) loves Rangers and wanted to do the family a good turn by repairing it. It's not like you can go around asking who's family it is to get permission.

It's grave stealing and please spare me this about whoever took it was only repairing it.
It was stolen probably for personal gain until the publicity got too much. A grave is sacrosanct and removing anything from it is a scumbag thing to do

 

[icrfc]

Maybe a bitter rheptile then seen the outrage and shat it.

This is what Im taking from it, did it while pished and took the fear when they sobered up and there was outrage about it.

 

[AchtungBaby]

So it's not been stolen, it's been taken away by somebody wanting to repair it.

 

[AchtungBaby]

It's grave stealing and please spare me this about whoever took it was only repairing it.
It was stolen probably for personal gain until the publicity got too much. A grave is sacrosanct and removing anything from it is a scumbag thing to do

What publicity? It doesn't mention anywhere that it was publicised.

 

[AchtungBaby]

It seems like they took it to fix it, maybe the note they left blew away.

I stay near a cemetery and the amount of people who steal the lights from it for their gardens disgusts me.

Why are people putting garden lights in a cemetery in the first place?

 

[BlueSeaOfIbrox]

Taking something without permission is stealing. If the sole purpose was to fix it then a wee note saying so would have been the best thing to do.

If the lady went and bought another to replace it not realising its coming back then shes out of pocket.

Agree, either a note or leave a message "I can repair this if you'd like phone number"

Or given it was in the news it probably wasn't hard to find the family and message them on fb explaining

Maybe it's just the cynic in me but I think he's probably got scared with the publicity and returned it before it caught up to him. Either way they didn't need to do that and fix it up so respect to them for that

 

[Blue bells are blue1872]

I'd say that we don't really know their motives tbh.
It's still sadly likely that it might have been stolen,repaired for the benefit of the thief and then later returned for some reason. Perhaps guilt or the knowledge that someone may comment and enquire about it.
It might have been a good deed that's been carried out with poor judgment. I like the idea of the repair and hope that it the case. Its good that its back in any case.

 

[LadyBearBelfast_CD5]

The main cemetery back in my hometown where I have relatives and friends buried is wild for it. As it would be the main cemetery pretty much for our town you always see people posting on social media that stuff has been taken from graves. From flowers that have just been put there freshly a day or two before to people taking teddy bear ornaments from children's graves and other unique little things. I had a sister plaque which was taken and I found it on a grave at the other side of the cemetery - i knew it was my sisters because it had her bloody name on it. It's just low, i don't know why someone would do it.

 

[Talktalk]

What publicity? It doesn't mention anywhere that it was publicised.

It was well documented throughout East Lothian at the time of it going missing

 

[Monty_greenock34]

Agree, either a note or leave a message "I can repair this if you'd like phone number"

Or given it was in the news it probably wasn't hard to find the family and message them on fb explaining

Maybe it's just the cynic in me but I think he's probably got scared with the publicity and returned it before it caught up to him. Either way they didn't need to do that and fix it up so respect to them for that

I think a parent has walked in their boys room,found it. Went balistic and repaired it before frog marching his boy back to the place it came from.

 

[Incognito]

Hopefully this was done with the best of intentions.

 

[Johansen]

What publicity? It doesn't mention anywhere that it was publicised.

It must have been publicised, otherwise how would we all know.

 

[DadoB]

Scumbag

 

[AchtungBaby]

It must have been publicised, otherwise how would we all know.

It's been publicised to say it was returned as per post 1 but didn't say it was publicised beforehand. Maybe amongst the Facebook maws community.

 

[Johansen]

It's been publicised to say it was returned as per post 1 but didn't say it was publicised beforehand. Maybe amongst the Facebook maws community.

Can't say I'm bothered whether it was or not but stealing from a grave is as low as it comes

 

[BobbyShearer55-65]

Happy ending to an appalling event. What sort of station do you need to have reached in life, before you are stealing your Rangers accoutrements from atop graves.