Welsh flag floral tribute stolen from Thornhill crematorium

Amy Hill-Anderson is part of the nursing team at Llandough Hospital who helped care for Matthew Martin who lived at the hospital for around five and a half years due to ‘complex medical issues’.

The team of nurses wanted to pay their respects to him, so collected money to buy a Welsh flag floral tribute for his funeral.

The floral tribute for Matthew Martin

Mrs Hill-Anderson said: “Matthew was so cheeky and funny; he used to have us in stitches.

“He had limited communication, but once you got to know him you could understand exactly what he meant and he was so proud to be Welsh.

“He was passionate about rugby and the Ospreys; when there was a rugby game on, we would do small bets – chipping in 20p or so – to see who would win. Matthew even had the doctors involved.

“He even had a Welsh flag tattooed on his arm, so it seemed like a fitting tribute. He would have loved it.”

Matthew Martin was 'cheeky' and proud to be Welsh

Matthew’s funeral was on January 11 and, along with the nurses’ tribute, included red, white and green flowers; even the horses had feathers in these colours to honour Matthew.

When Mrs Hill-Anderson, and two others from the nursing team, left Thornhill Crematorium to take a photo of the tribute for the rest of the team they discovered it was gone.

CCTV has shown a man and woman lurking in the area, before picking up the tribute, putting it in a car and driving away.

“I don’t think it has sunk in,” added Mrs Hill-Anderson.

“I’m speechless. The flowers were displayed near the funeral programs, so if they read that they knew that his funeral had just happened.

“I can’t believe people like that walk among us.”

South Wales Police are investigating the theft. Anybody who can assist the investigation is urged to contact South Wales Police quoting reference number 2100011781.