The graves of Kiwi motorsport icon Bruce McLaren and his wife Patricia have been damaged yet again in what a volunteer restorer describes as a "deliberate and calculated" series of vandalisms at New Zealand’s largest cemetery.
McLaren – who died in a crash aged 32 during testing in 1970 – was buried at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland. His wife Patricia was also buried there when she died in 2016, alongside the motorsport legend's parents, sister, and brother-in-law.
George Stewart-Dalzell from Grave Guardians, who has been repairing the stones, told 1News she arrived last Saturday to find more damage.
"The McLaren cluster of headstones seems to be a magnet. It's like Groundhog Day."
Polyethene bags placed over the grave stones to protect them during the restoration had holes ripped in them. She said bleach sprayed all over the stones had "eaten through" paint and "pitted the granite".
"There was sticky, nasty stuff all over Bruce and Patricia's headstone, it took us four hours to get off," she added.
"I've got no clue what it was, and trying to not use chemicals to get it off was very time-consuming."
The vandalism has been ongoing since damage was first reported in September. It included gold paint splattered across several headstones, bleach poured on granite, and even an attempt to glue toy cars to Bruce and Patricia's headstone using epoxy.
Stewart-Dalzell, who specialises in gentle non-chemical restoration, said the repeated attacks were destroying the progress she had made.
"We have repeatedly arrived to continue work to find the wrapping lifted off and further attempts made on the stones. This hampers efforts to finish the work because we spend an hour or two having to fix the mess that undoes everything we had done."
She originally said she believed the damage may have been a misguided attempt at cleaning, but no longer believes this is the case.
"The more it's happened, the more it feels very calculated and deliberate," she said.
"Whether they think they have the right to finish what they started, I don’t know. But it’s getting ridiculous. It needs to stop."
On top of the time spent, the ongoing vandalism was also costing her financially.
Stewart-Dalzell said she had planned to re-lay fresh 23-karat gold onto some of the McLaren headstones, but bleach damage meant that work, close to $1000, now risked being undone.
“If someone sprays bleach over 23-karat gold, it’s knackered,” she said.
Police confirmed they received reports of damage to several headstones on November 5 and said enquiries are ongoing.
Stewart-Dalzell said she has since received information from multiple witnesses who reported seeing people "messing around with the headstones".
She has a simple message for whoever is responsible:
"Just stop."
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