Cash taken from donation box in Lockerbie bombing memorial room

Money has been stolen from a memorial room that honours the victims of the Lockerbie bombing.

A man was caught on a newly installed security camera taking cash from the donations box within the small stone building at Tundergarth Church on Friday 25 August.

The suspect then returned to the site on Wednesday 30 August.

Police have launched an investigation and enquiries are ongoing to establish whether a theft took place during the second incident, or whether the man was trespassing with intent to steal.

The remembrance room honours the 270 lives lost in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Dumfries and Galloway town on 21 December 1988.

A total of 259 passengers and crew and 11 local residents died when a bomb exploded on the Boeing 747 during its flight from London to New York.

The bombing remains the UK’s worst terrorist attack.

Tundergarth Kirks Trust helps to preserve the room, which features photographs of the victims and recorded remembrances.

Treasurer Drene Lee told Sky News: “We are very disappointed that this has happened.

“We are taking steps to making the collections safe by putting in a box on the wall with a lock.

“We don’t know if this has happened before as we had no security camera – it has only been in two weeks.”

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A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On Friday 25 August 2023, we received a report of a theft from a church in the Tundergarth area near Lockerbie.

“A further report was received on Wednesday 30 August regarding a further possible theft at the same location.

“Officers are following a positive line of enquiry.”