Whānau celebrate return of koru stolen from Dargaville grave

Whānau of the late Mike Mudford are celebrating the safe return of a koru that went missing from his headstone in Dargaville sometime last week.

The family of a Kaipara community stalwart whose headstone was robbed of a treasured koru are celebrating the return of the taonga.

Pipiwai resident Leah Reweti contacted the Northern Advocate after the koru was discovered missing from her father’s grave in Dargaville on Sunday morning.

The koru, valued at about $2000, was believed to have been sawn off the headstone of Michael (Mike) Mudford, who was known for his dedication to the disabled community.

His whānau spent today at Uretiti Beach cleansing the stone and performing a karakia after picking it up from Wellsford.

Yesterday evening Reweti received an email from someone who knew the person who had the koru.

Determined to see the taonga home safe, Reweti arranged to pick it up today.

“I didn’t ask any questions,” she said.

The koru's safe return has brought welcome relief to Mike Mudford's whānau.

“I just wanted it in my arms.”

Reweti said she had faith the koru would be returned.

“We are really, really blessed, some families don’t even get them back.”

Mudford‘s widow, Jeanne, had told her stepdaughter the theft was like losing her husband again.

Reweti had described the act as sacrilege and demanded the safe return of the taonga.

The whānau planned to contact a stonemason to organise the restoration of the stone so it may sit atop the grave at Old Mt Wesley Cemetery again.

The koru, worth about $2000, went missing sometime last week. On Tuesday it was cleansed at Uretiti and will eventually be returned to the grave of Mike Mudford.

It would likely be months before it was restored and there would be meetings to ensure it was done in a way that it could never be taken again.

“They [the stonemason] are blown away that anyone could do such a thing, they’ve never heard anything like it.”

Reweti has passed on all the information she has to the police, determined to see those who stole the taonga held to account.

She said she had been “blown away” by the community support and outrage.

Reweti said her stepmother was “over the moon” to see the koru’s safe return.

“She said, ‘You’re definitely your dad’s daughter’.”

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.