Anger as man finds wife's grave moved

A Masterton man is angry his wife's grave was disturbed by council maintenance workers without his knowledge.

Peter Ah Kit, who visits his late wife's grave at Archer Cemetery at least once a month, was informed the disturbance via a letter from Masterton District Council.

Council workers were realigning a fence and pillar near the Park Ave entrance when the land next to Mr Ah Kit's plot collapsed, exposing the urn containing his wife's ashes.

He said after receiving the letter, he visited the grave and was upset it had been shifted about 20cm to the right.

"I came down here and had a look, I was that wild I didn't call council because I didn't want to start swearing at them." He said that to add insult to injury, the letter from council misspelt his surname in the address line, and used an incorrect first name, starting: "Dear John".

"If they think it's a joke I'm not amused - it's my wife."

Mr Ah Kit said council should have told him about the maintenance before it was carried out, and wants a public apology.

"I paid for the plot, I paid for the headstone, it's my property and they shouldn't have touched it without my permission."

Council spokesman Sam Rossiter-Stead said when the land next to the grave collapsed the works were stopped immediately and the urn uplifted by the sexton.

The maintenance work was completed and the urn returned to the plot, and council staff decided formal written notification was appropriate and sent a letter immediately.

He said their intention was to return the headstone back to its original location, and if it was out of place council would work with Mr Ah Kit to resolve the situation.

"We would certainly like to apologise for any distress that has been caused. We carry out maintenance work in the cemetery on a daily basis and if there is any work planned which may involve graves being disturbed in any way, then we always contact those parties who may be affected.

"In this case it was an unexpected and unfortunate incident which was remedied quickly."

Chief executive Wes Ten Hove phoned Mr Ah Kit personally to apologise yesterday and the pair will meet later in the week to find a resolution.