VANDALS who targeted a baby’s grave have sparked a schoolgirls’ campaign to clean up Didcot Cemetery.

Year 11 Didcot Girls’ School pupils Karen Goddard, Frae Elford and Amy Aldworth, all 16, are campaigning against graveyard vandalism as part of their citizenship GCSE exam.

They started their campaign after vandals attacked the grave of Karen’s brother Michael, who was stillborn at 28 weeks in 1993.

They have urged the town council to close the gates to the Kynaston Road cemetery at 10pm to try to reduce vandalism. They also want CCTV cameras installed.

Karen, of Queensway, said she was sickened when vandals snapped the headstone on her brother’s grave.

She said the headstone had been cracked two years ago, then vandalised for the second time in the summer.

She said: “I think it’s sick that someone could vandalise a baby’s grave and we want the vandalism to stop in this graveyard. People are put here to rest in peace.”

Miss Elford added: “It’s really heartless to vandalise a child’s grave.”

The pupils have contacted the council and alerted it to vandalism, graffiti, litter, and dog-fouling in the cemetery.

Town council technical manager Brenda Andrews said: “We did investigate locking the cemetery at night but some people appreciate coming up here to visit the graves then so we decided against it.”

She added: “It is very distressing if someone interferes with a grave, particularly when the headstone of a child is involved.

“Now these matters have been brought to our attention we will investigate to see what improvements can be made.”

Margaret Davies, town councillor for the ward in which the cemetery lies, said she thought the idea of installing CCTV was “a bit over the top”.