Family devastated as son’s cheeky gravestone removed from cemetery for being ‘too offensive’
A FAMILY have been left devastated after their son’s gravestone was removed from a cemetery for being “too offensive.” The personalised headstone was supposed to celebrate the late Peter Bridge’s “wicked sense of humour”, but was instead discarded by staff without any warning. Australian man Peter Bridge was only 33-years-old when he died in April […]
A FAMILY have been left devastated after their son’s gravestone was removed from a cemetery for being “too offensive.”
The personalised headstone was supposed to celebrate the late Peter Bridge’s “wicked sense of humour”, but was instead discarded by staff without any warning.
Australian man Peter Bridge was only 33-years-old when he died in April last year, following a lifetime battle with cystic fibrosis.
When it came time for Peter’s father, Arthur Bridge, to choose a gravestone, he wanted to have something that would reflect his son’s cheeky nature.
The Bridge family engraved the headstone with lyrics to Peter’s favourite song ‘Why So Serious?’ and included a small photo of Peter sticking his middle finger up.
The tribute also gave comfort to those closest to the young joker, with Mr Bridge telling 9News: “Pete would have loved it because that was who he was.”
“He would be driving along and he would see a mate and the finger would be up to them, just joking around.”
The gravestone celebrating Peter’s life had been up in the Adelaide cemetery for seven months before it was suddenly removed from his grave on January 16, as staff deemed it “too offensive”.
But what has upset the Bridge family further is that they weren’t even warned it was going to be removed.
Mr Bridge revealed: “A friend of ours was walking through the cemetery and he spotted my lad’s headstone on a pallet inside the workshop.”
“I went straight down there to find out what was going on and they said the photo art was offensive.”
“Apparently someone had complained. But the photo is so small, you would have to be standing pretty much on top of it to see what it is.”
Mr Bridge added he was disappointed his family weren’t contacted by the staff at the cemetery, calling the removal of the headstone “morally wrong” with absolutely no “regard for the memory and resting place of our boy.”
He added: “There is just nothing right about it. You don’t do that.”
“My other son, he is devastated, and my partner, she is devastated. It’s taken her back to day one. She goes down to see his gravesite and there is nothing there.”
The heartbroken family have expressed their outrage in a petition, calling for Peter’s gravestone to be returned immediately.
The petition has already been signed by over 2,500 people.
The furious father wrote: “There are a ridiculous amount of reasons as to why this is not acceptable.”
“First and foremost, we were not even notified of his headstone’s removal –
“If his picture did offend someone, why is it anyone’s problem but theirs? That is our son’s personal resting space.”
The Adelaide Cemeteries Authority said it received several written and phone complaints from the public about Peter’s tombstone.
Chief Operations Officer Michael Robertson also claimed the authority had tried to get in contact with the Bridge family before removing the headstone.
Mr Robertson said: “We did try and contact his family via phone and left voicemail messages for them. We spoke to the monumental mason and tried to get them to give them a buzz as well.”
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Following public outrage, Mr Robertson said he and the authority’s CEO had personally met with Mr Bridge and offered to pay for a replacement headstone.
He added that they had suggested “a number of solutions” to the family and offered to meet any costs involved but the family had declined.
“We would love to find a solution for the family that meets the general members of the public’s expectations as well as them. We remain committed to try and work with the family.”
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