A woman has been left angered and upset after the memorial she made for her dead brother's children was vandalised.

Diss Mercury: A broken wire on Carly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly NewtonA broken wire on Carly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly Newton (Image: Archant)

Rik Newton, from Harleston, passed away in his early 30s in a car accident on January 21, 2017, leaving behind three sons aged from 10 to 16.

His sister Carly Newton, a tattooist, brought flowers to the memorial she built with her nephews on January 21 to mark the second anniversary of Mr Newton's passing.

When she arrived at the site of the memorial she noticed that the wire attaching the lights had been cut in two.

The 36-year-old said; 'I had noticed his lights hadn't been working for a few weeks but I assumed as it was winter maybe the solar panel wasn't charging enough.

Diss Mercury: Rik Newton with his three children. PHOTO; Carly NewtonRik Newton with his three children. PHOTO; Carly Newton (Image: Archant)

'I was moving some photos that had been blown in the wind and noticed there were no lights in the hedge row.

'I followed the wire from the solar unit and noticed there was a clean cut and the rest of the string had been taken away.

'The farmer who owns the land allows us to keep Rik's lights and sign there. We keep it tidy and trimmed so I know it wasn't a hedge trimmer that had caught the lights. I keep it neat and pretty for his boys. We will never forget him.

'My details are on the back of Rik's sign. People who go past it know who he is and who his family are. If they had an issue with any of it they could have just messaged one of us and we would have changed to help them.

Diss Mercury: Carly Newton with her brother Rik Newton, who passed away in a car crash two years ago. PHOTO; Carly NewtonCarly Newton with her brother Rik Newton, who passed away in a car crash two years ago. PHOTO; Carly Newton (Image: Archant)

'Next time you drive past his memorial, when his lights or sign offends you or upsets your days in those few short seconds please remember why it is there.

'For those three beautiful boys have lost their dad. Those boys miss him every waking second. I think it is such a cowardly act.'

This is not the first incident of outdoor lights being cut in the area of late. In December vandals cut a display of outdoor Christmas lights in nearby Diss leaving a household baffled and planning to install CCTV to combat future attacks.

The Christmas display on the front of the house and along a garden fence had only been installed a week ago by Rachel Bryce and her partner Nathan Kingfisher in Long Meadow Drive before they were cut in six places.

Diss Mercury: Carly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly NewtonCarly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly Newton (Image: Archant)

Diss Mercury: Carly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly NewtonCarly Newton's memorial to her brother Rik. PHOTO; Carly Newton (Image: Archant)