Rangers plaque stolen from East Lothian man's graveside leaving daughter heartbroken

Daughter’s heartbreak after late dad’s graveside plaque stolen

A distraught daughter has slammed cruel thieves who she believes have stolen a Rangers FC stone plaque from her father’s grave.

Jayne Cockburn found the treasured memorial stone was missing when she visited the graveside of her late dad Ian Cockburn at Tranent Cemetery in East Lothian earlier this week. Jayne, 38, said she has been left “sad and angry” after the plaque went missing which features the Ibrox club’s badge along with the words ‘Simply The Best’. The slate plaque is described as charcoal in colour and is around 12 inches long and eight inches wide.

Jayne, who makes a round trip of over 100 miles to visit her father’s grave from her home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, has now made an appeal to have the plaque returned. Jayne told the East Lothian Courier: “I was very sad and angry when I realised the plaque had disappeared. I asked family members if they had removed the plaque but no one had removed it and had no idea where it had went.”

Jayne Cockburn with brother John Cockburn at Tranent Cemetery, East Lothian

Jayne said her Rangers-daft dad Ian lived in Hawick but spent much of his time in East Lothian where his parents had lived. She said her dad wished to be buried at Tranent Cemetery next to his son, also named Ian, who died when he was young.

Ian, 71, passed away following a heart attack in June 2018 and regularly attended Rangers matches with his son John who organised the plaque following his father’s death.

Jayne added: “The Rangers plaque was laid by my brother. The connection with Rangers is purely a father and son bond who share an interest in the football club and team. They attended games together in dad's better and healthier years and had a bond over football. My brother is particularly upset about it just vanishing into thin air.”

Jayne said she is not hopeful in having the memorial plaque returned and is planning on informing the police of the theft today. She said: “We travel about 100 miles every time to get to the grave so to go and find things not there is very upsetting. Hopefully someone, somewhere comes forward with some sort of explanation regarding its disappearance but I highly doubt it.”