A heartbroken mother has told how vandals twice smashed up the grave of her baby girl, who died aged 18 days.

Carer Michelle Kirkham says she was devastated to find special gifts left on daughter Alexia’s grave were defaced at Hawkinge Cemetery.

The married 29-year-old mother of Hawkinge lost Alexia who was born prematurely five years ago to a rare bowel disease.

Since then, she gives Alexia’s resting place a regular tidy up.

However, ceramic ornaments have been stolen and decorative lanterns cut into pieces before recent visits.

Mrs Kirkham, who lives with husband Matthew in Eversley Road, appealed directly to the hooligans this week.

She said: “Please learn some respect it is the final resting place of our little girl.

“You have been lucky enough to make it and remain in the world but vandalising a baby’s grave is disgusting.

“I went up there to visit my daughter’s grave on her fifth birthday and I went to put some flowers down when I saw the destruction.

“I broke into tears.”

Mrs Kirkham recounted a similar incident at Christmas but this time another three graves had been meddled with.

Now she is calling for Shepway District Council to take tougher security measures to protect the cemetery.

She said: “I have lived in Hawkinge and regularly saw youths in there drinking and taking drugs.

“Of course I don’t know exactly who did it, but they are thugs and can’t be very nice people.”

This week she launched a petition on change.org to: "Protect baby's graves from being vandalised".

"Vandalising a baby's grave is disgusting" - Michelle Kirkham

The petition has so far received 25 signatures and calls on the council to install CCTV cameras and secure lockable gates.

However, the council said it has no plans to lock up the site and visitors who leave items on graves do so at their own risk.

A statement said: “We’ve received a report of items being stolen and broken from a grave in Hawkinge Cemetery.

"We’re sorry to hear this and the distress that it has caused. We’re currently investigating.

“We haven’t received any other reports of this nature.

"We’ve carried out a visual inspection today and none of the graves are damaged.

“To help protect visitors from loss, we ask through our cemetery regulations that no items are left on the graves. Any items are left at the owners’ risk.

“We’re committed to keeping the cemetery as a public open space out of respect to all who wish to visit it. We have no plans to change this.”