THE group which ensures Trowbridge Cemetery looks its best all year round is dismayed after a the mausoleum of a leading figure in the town’s textile history was vandalised.

Members of Friends Of The Down Cemetery were on their weekly clean-up of the cemetery on Saturday, May 20 when they discovered that bronze lettering and a metal fern had been removed from the mausoleum of Sir Roger Brown, a hugely successful mill owner who funded the building of Trowbridge Town Hall.

The Grade II-listed mausoleum was built by Sir Brown in memory of his wife, Lady Brown, in 1900 and is a focal point of the cemetery.

In 2012 the bronze gates were stolen from it and the group wants to put a stop to vandalism at the cemetery.

Robert Colebourne, 68, a member of the group, said: “We were simply disgusted to find that Roger’s beautiful mausoleum has been vandalised. He gave so much to the town and was such a prominent figure so the least he’s owed is a bit respect.

“We think whoever did it might have stolen the bronze letting to melt down and sell on.”

“After we discovered what had happened we alerted the police, Trowbridge Civic Society and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and we really hope it can be repaired as soon as possible.

“This isn’t the first time his mausoleum has been vandalised and the cemetery has been targeted on several occasions, so we do think there should be more security there.

“We know that police are stretched, so we want neighbours of the cemetery to report incidents as soon as they seen them happening.”