Woman left heartbroken after late father's bench is stolen from garden

Lyndsey Hume, 36 from Jarrow has spoken of her horror when she found out that thieves had stolen her father’s bench.

Ms Hume said: “My dad was very ill before he died, he suffered a heart attack and a stroke and he always used to sit on this bench in the garden.

"It was known as his bench and he would sit there to get fresh air, the bench was sentimental to us.

"My mum rang me to say it had been stolen from her garden, I couldn’t function.

"It was heartbreaking for the whole family.”

The bench was stolen in Jarrow on Wednesday, October 7 between 10pm and 6am and no CCTV has caught the culprits.

The 36-year-old added: “My dad only passed away two years ago so it’s still a sensitive subject, we just really want his bench back.

"It’s irreplaceable and we are all completely devastated.

"We can’t bring ourselves to just buy a new bench because it won’t be his, I don’t understand why anybody would steal it.”

The family are offering a small reward in return for the bench.

"My mum reported it to the police as we have had a spate of thefts in Jarrow, we hope somebody might have seen something and we can get it back.

"We are asking anyone who might have any information or know the whereabouts of my dad’s bench to contact us.”