Floral tributes to Hither Green burglar Henry Vincent with links to Swanley pulled down
More flowers left outside the house where a serial burglar was stabbed to death by the elderly occupant have been torn down overnight.
It is the third time the floral tributes left by friends and relatives of Henry Vincent, who had links to Kent, have been removed.
Witnesses say they were taken down by a man with a hat pulled low over his eyes around 9.30pm last night.
The middle-aged man who said he was a "local" branded the memorial to the stabbed burglar an "insult."
He threw the flowers and tributes on the floor before he began stamping on them.
He said: "The flowers need burning. They are an insult to the memory of the geezer who was burgled."
Amongst the items cut down was a grey bear doll which had a note which read: “To my son Henry Boy, my bolo" and a brown bear,
Just one card remained attached to the fence with a red rose and a message of sympathy reading on the inside "Family love to you all XXX."
The tributes had only recently been renewed by three women carrying a baby, after they had been cleared away the night before.
The women, who would not give their names, said: "They have painted him as a monster.
“How would you feel? We will come back as long as it takes.”
The women then drove off with one flat tyre having hit the kerb on their arrival.
Henry Vincent was a traveller with links to Swanley, Hextable and Orpington.
He died following a fight with home-owner Richard Osborn-Brooks last Wednesday during a botched burglary.
Mr Osborn-Brooks was briefly arrested but has since been released without charge. The 78-year-old has been unable to return to his home in Hither Green for rear of reprisals from Vincent's supporters. His wife, Maureen, 76, is disabled.
Police officers on horseback have been patrolling the road, but have made no attempt to intervene either when the flowers are put up, or when they are torn down.
Police said they would need to receive a complaint from the owner of the fence where the flowers are being attached to take action.
Vincent, 37, did not actually die at the scene. After being stabbed, he staggered away and died later in University Hospital Lewisham.
Police are still looking for a second man, Billy Jeeves, 28, in connection with the burglary.
Both Vincent and Jeeves were already being sought for questioning by Kent Police following a series of burglaries in Farningham in January.