A GRIEVING family today spoke of their heartbreak after relatives' graves were attacked at a cemetery.

Three graves belonging to two men and a young girl have been desecrated at Pleasington Cemetery's Muslim section, prompting a police investigation.

Shaheen Shah, 38, said the graves of her sister, Zeenat Ali, and father, Sarfaz Ali, were attacked. Her sister died aged 14 in 1984 after childhood illness. Her father was a well-known Asian baker and businessman, who died in March 2002.

She said: "We discovered my father and sister's tombstones were damaged at the weekend."

She explained that words had been chipped away from the headstones. She added: "My sister had illnesses as a child and never harmed anybody in her life. She had been buried there for years.

"What's happened is heart-breaking and disgusting. I would never stoop so low as to damage a grave. A grave is a final resting place that should be respected."

Shaheen's brother, 31-year-old Kashif, said the attacks were sickening, adding: "How would these vandals feel if their parents' or sisters' graves were desecrated?"

He said his 68-year-old mother, who asked for anonymity, was devastated at the attacks.

Friend Naveed Hussain, 31, who also lives in Blackburn, said the grave of his late father, Itrat, had also been damaged.

"I went up on Sunday and saw a word was removed and something heavy had been dropped on the stone, damaging the marble. It's very upsetting. My family is very unhappy that our father's resting place has been disturbed."

Police today confirmed they were investigating the incidents.