Heartbroken parents who have already endured the pain of losing a child, have discovered their children’s graves have been plundered by thieves.

Grave robbers have been ripping out brass and copper plaques from the Baby Memorial Garden in Streatham Park Cemetery, in Mitcham.

Daniel Hew, from Esher, whose son, Sam, died in 2000, noticed the missing plaques during a visit to the cemetery on Sunday.

Mr Hew said: “We think it’s outrageous. Luckily our son’s stone is granite with gold engraving, but we are still pretty sickened and disgusted by what we have seen.

“If it was my son, I would be so angry I wouldn’t like to think about what I’d do. Just how low can some people go?”

The prices of raw metals, especially copper, have skyrocketed in recent years due to growing demand from rapidly-industrialising countries such as India and China.

Criminals sell the metal on to scrap dealers who ship it abroad and costs the UK an estimated £770m a year, with BT phone cables and train lines among the biggest targets.

A Merton police spokesman said they were unaware of the incident but asked anyone with information to contact them on the new non-emergency phone number - 101.