A GRIEVING widow has been left devastated after vandals destroyed her husband's gravestone.

The pensioner, 67, discovered the white marble headstone lying shattered in pieces on the ground when she went to lay fresh flowers at St Edmund's cemetery in Stubbington.

Police believe the vandals wrenched the four foot headstone, intricately decorated with the Virgin Mary, out of the ground before using a hammer to knock it down.

It is estimated that it will cost £3,500 to replace the headstone which features two attached vases in grey granite.

Now the widow, who does not want to be named, is offering a £100 cash reward to catch the culprits.

"It is like grieving all over again," she said.

"I am in a total state of despair. It's not just the expense but the grief I feel at how somebody could do this.

"When I saw the damaged headstone I could not believe it.

"It is so distasteful and sad. It's blatant vandalism. They must have had to use some sort of instrument to cause the damage they did."

Every week she lays flowers at her husband's headstone which she had specially designed to remember him.

An angel on the headstone was also damaged as well as another headstone. The cemetery is off Marks Tey Road.

"I will never be able to relax in the cemetery again," said the pensioner. She added that even if she replaces the headstone, the memory of what the vandals did will stay with her forever.

Police are appealing for witnesses who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the secluded cemetery, sometime between Wednesday morning and Saturday morning, to get in touch on 0845 045 4545.