Grieving family fight to save colourful grave for 19-year-old daughter

A grieving family have been left devastated after being asked to 'tone down' the colourful grave of their 19-year-old daughter.

Kirra Rose Sim, a teenager from Australia, died in a tragic car accident in 2012 and has been remembered by her family ever since with a customised grave, which features a purple colour scheme, butterfly-themed bench and purple flower displays.

The family have now been asked to change the grave after being told by Remembrance Parks that it does not comply to the graveyard guidelines.

Kirra's older brother Trent has set up a petition in response to the warning which asks the family to make changes before 9th June, which coincidentally would have been Kirra's 24th birthday.

On the change.org page Trent explains how much the grave means to his mother, and that removing the customisations would 'destroy' her.

https://www.facebook.com/RipKirraRoseSim/photos/a.280512778725036.59383.280506608725653/583352225107755/?type=3&theater

Explaining the situation, he writes, 'Remembrance Parks - Central Victoria, are demanding that we make changes to my little sisters grave within the next 21 days after they received several apparent 'complaints', their issue is the colour of the seat and concrete and number of decorative items next to the plaque, none of which encroach on the neighboring graves.

'If we are made to remove these personal touches that mean so much to us it will destroy Mum, in a way that only a parent who has lost a child could know.'

Trent continues to describe how his mother visits the grave nearly every day, taking comfort in caring for it and seeing it as a reflection of her late daughter.

'Mum visits almost daily and always makes sure that everything is neat, tidy and clean. She trims and waters the grass and wipes down the chair we had installed (with permission), this seat is for anyone to use.

'Kirra's grave is a place for us all to go and be close to her, a place that we keep in the best possible condition and is a reflection of her.'

https://www.facebook.com/RipKirraRoseSim/photos/a.280512778725036.59383.280506608725653/1060895570686749/?type=3&theater

The petition has gained nearly five and a half thousand signatures so far and is hoping to reach seven and a half thousand.

Supporters of the petition have commented on the page, with many agreeing that the brightness of Kirra's grave shouldn't be a problem.

One commenter recalls how whenever her family visit the graveyard her children enjoy seeing the extra-special memorial, 'when my children and I have been visiting our own loved ones at the Bendigo Cemetery we noticed this pinky purple coloured seat. It was hard not to but it wasn't because it was unattractive. Quite the opposite.

'It is a beautiful seat and my children absolutely loved it. Everytime we drive past now they comment 'that's the one with that pinky purple seat isn't it mum?!'

Another supporter said, 'What sort of world are we living in where the color of a seat is an issue at a grave site/memorial for a loved one?'