VANDALS have left a widower distraught after chopping the top off a wooden bench which had a dedication plaque to his wife.

Pensioner Denis Minihane, aged 73, used to take his wife, Brenda, to a beauty spot in Moses Gate Country Park in her wheelchair.

The couple would enjoy sitting at the beauty spot and, when Mrs Minihane died six years ago, aged 67, her husband had a plaque placed on the bench in her memory.

He also scattered her ashes there and regularly returns to the bench to remember his wife.

Mr Minihane, of Corrie Crescent, Kearsley, said: “I felt sick when I saw what had happened, I didn’t feel well at all.

“I put her ashes there, so it is like her grave to me. It is somewhere I can sit on my own with my thoughts.

“I used to take her there a lot, we had gone there for years.”

Mrs Minihane had suffered a stroke and had been in a wheelchair for about five years before her death.

She died six years ago after having a series of smaller strokes.

Mr Minihane has reported the matter to the park ranger and intends to report the plaque theft to police.

He added: “I think it has been taken for scrap. The value is minimal to them, but it holds a lot of sentimental value to me.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. How can anyone be so stupid?

“If reading this pricks someone’s conscience then maybe the plaque will be returned, but I don’t hold out much hope.”

Last month, the family of Harry Hodges were left devastated after a memorial bench installed at Moses Gate Country Park in his name was stolen just two days after it was erected.

The bench was placed at one of Mr Hodges favourite places in the park, overlooking Crompton Lodges.

His daughter, Sandra Green and son, Gary Hodges, clubbed together to raise the £400 needed to pay for the wood and metal bench.

In November last year, thieves broke into Grosvenor Nursery garden in Kearsley and stole a bench left in memory of a little girl, Chloe Deveney, who died of meningitis.

And in February 2008, a memorial bench donated to the Roots For All allotments in Shepherd’s Cross Street, Brownlow Fold, was ripped out of the ground and stolen.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “We’d like to express our sympathies to the family.

“We cannot understand why anyone would want to vandalise property and take this plaque.

“We do have staff on site during the day, but it appears the plaque was stolen during the night and we will be working with the police in the hopes of finding those responsible.

“We are repairing the bench and would be happy to talk to the family about replacing the plaque if they wish.”