THE theft from Lochgelly Cemetery of a memorial bench left a local family completely saddened by the shady work of people who went to a lot of trouble to get the item which had been in the cemetery for 30 years.

The thing is that whoever took it certainly went about it in a highly professional way.

The bench is a very substantial piece of woodwork which could not be moved around by one person.

Also transportation of it away from the scene could not be done without a van or small lorry so the theft has been quite an operation.

Even carrying out the removal of the bench in darkness would provide its own challenges for the perpetrators but do it they did and now the family of Sarah and Hugh Cameron are left with coming to terms with this sickening blow.

What anyone would do with a memorial bench other than put it in their garden, beggars belief. It certainly has been a body blow for Elizabeth Wallace and her husband and the rest of the family.

Hopefully the people who carried out this theft will see the errors of their ways and the distress their actions caused, and return it.