A WHITEHILL widow, who found her husband's gravestone vandalised, said the incident had capped "the worst 16 months" of her life. Sheila Travers spent six months saving up £2,000 to pay for a fitting headstone for her beloved husband of 60 years, Lloyd Travers, following his death in February last year. But a regular visit to the grave at Whitehill and Bordon Cemetery on Sunday June 16 turned into a nightmare when she discovered vandals had chiselled large chunks out of the mottled- marble memorial stone. Mrs Travers is convinced the culprits damaged the stone because it features the insignia of Portsmouth Football Club, of which Mr Travers was an avid fan throughout his life. The 76-year-old widow claimed the cemetery attracted groups of bored youngsters at weekends because it was secluded and unpoliced, with plenty of seating areas. She said: "This is probably football hooliganism, which has got out of hand, and it is absolutely awful." Funeral director Thorne-Leggett has offered to file down the edges of the stone to conceal the damage. The company believes the perpetrators must have used tools to gouge the stone, which was solid enough to last for many years.
