Special chair stolen from teen's grave

This chair is believed to have been stolen from the Kelvin Grove Cemetery on Wednesday. Photo: SUPPLIED

A Palmerston North woman is begging the person responsible for taking a beloved chair from her sister's grave to return the item.

Aundrea Gutierrez posted a plea to Facebook on Wednesday night after her family discovered the large chair missing from Kyana Vergara's grave in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery.

"My mum and stepdad went down there at 4pm on Wednesday and saw it was gone. They rung me straight away then called a man who had been fixing the headstone that morning."

The worker confirmed he was there at 8am and had seen the chair.

"So, we know it has gone missing sometime between 8am and 4pm on Wednesday. It's large...someone would have had to have something to transport this."

The wooden chair was fitted with a plaque and gifted to Kyana on her first birthday.

"We always kept hold of it...a few months ago it was varnished with a little bit of glitter in it so, when the sun shines, you could see it sparkle."

Ms Gutierrez said the family was not concerned with who took the chair, they just wanted it returned.

"That's all we want. No questions just return it. Even if we just turn up at the cemetery and it's there."

Kyana died suddenly in January last year. Her parents spend most of their time at her grave, and have built a small fence where they have laid special mementoes.

"Last week, plants were going missing from the site and we had actually thought about cameras," Ms Gutierrez said. "We don't think it's children doing this as there were other items left behind...this is an adult."

Some suggestions were made that the Council responsible for maintaining the cemetery had removed it. However, Palmerston North City Council Parks and Property manager John Brenkley said that was not the case.

"We can confirm that Council staff did not remove the chair. Families can decorate grave sites for up to five years and we're very respectful of their right to do so. We always speak with them before we remove anything from grave sites, including when we undertake maintenance work."