A FATHER of two boys who died in childhood is desperate to find the memorial stone which has been missing from their grave for more than two years.

Chris Clegg is appealing for help in finding the commemorative stone that sat above the grave of his twin sons Samuel Peter and Phillip James, in Hatfield Hyde Cemetery, WGC.

It was removed in May 2008 following the death of Chris’ father, Peter, who was buried on the same plot – and has not been seen since.

Now Chris, 59, has contacted the WHT in a bid to trace the monument.

“It’s obviously got significant sentimental value,” said Chris.

“It would be lovely to get it back – we could get a proper grave put together for Sam and Pip and Dad. It’s what the family wants.

“I just hope somebody reads this and says ‘I know where that is’.”

Chris and wife Kay, who both grew up in WGC, were in their late 20s when Samuel and Phillip were born on September 2, 1978.

Tragically, Samuel died just four days later, while Phillip died of cot death on January 6, 1979 – the day of his Christening.

When Peter died on May 9, 2008, he too was buried in the family plot at the Hollybush Lane graveyard.

As is standard, the tombstone was removed to allow the ground to settle after the burial – but has never been replaced.

John Warwick, from WGC funeral directors Warwick & Peters, which arranged Peter’s burial, was equally baffled by the disappearance.

“It’s a mystery,” he said. “We’ve all been up there and searched for it many times. I’ve checked with our masons, but what’s happened to it I just don’t know.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve known vandals to go into cemeteries and smash them up, but nobody would walk away with something like that.”

Chris, who now lives in Maidenhead and has two grown-up daughters, described the tombstone as a flat 4ft stone, made of grey granite. It has four stone corner panels, with white pebbles in the middle, and the names of the boys are inscribed towards the bottom.

*Do you know where the gravestone is? Contact the newsdesk on 01707 384187 or email news@whtimes.co.uk