COINS thrown into a fountain by mourners in a garden of remembrance have been stolen.
Gallons of water from the fountain have been drained and every coin taken.
Distressed staff at the Pentrebychan crematorium near Wrexham cannot believe thieves could sink so low.
The Wrexham council-owned crematorium stands in beautiful gardens and grounds of more than 30 acres of a former hall.
But sometime in the early hours of Monday last week thieves - or a thief - went into the gardens and drained the fountain, damaging it in the process, and stole an estimated £30 in coins.
A spokeswoman at the crematorium said: 'Gardening staff even found a pair of Lycra shorts chucked into the garden of remembrance, so they had brought their trunks to get into the fountain.
'It's caused a lot of distress.' The three-tiered marble fountain was erected about eight years ago and stands 5ft high.
It was designed as a project by members of crematorium staff, who helped to select the marble with the help of a local stonemason.
'When they drained the water out of the pool they damaged the fittings and it will probably cost a couple of hundred pounds to repair,' said the spokeswoman.
'It's not just the extra expense, it's the principle of the thing, how low can someone get?
'The fountain was in what we call the first garden, which was the walled garden of the old hall. About eight years ago we wanted to improve it and decided we would have a fountain.
'People love it, they say how nice it is to hear the sound of running water.'
She added: 'Over the years we have had lots of coins thrown there and the money is used for the donations in memory fund and the upkeep of the gardens.
'It's hard to think that someone could come into a garden of remembrance and do this. They must be very desperate to take all those coins.
'In all the years it has been here we have never had a problem like this.'
The theft has been reported to Wrexham police.
