A DISTRAUGHT father is pleading with heartless grave robbers to let his son rest in peace.

Toddler Reece Jones died tragically in August 1994 in Leigh -- aged just 22 months -- but mindless vandals continue to desecrate his burial place.

Little Reece's heartbroken father, Rob, 38 of Ramsey Close, Atherton, has a simple message to those responsible: "Please stop this heartache."

Speaking at his son's graveside in Tyldesley Cemetery, Rob recalled how the first Christmas Reece's death -- and before Rob could afford a memorial stone -- thieves first took flowers and mementoes.

Since then, Reece's grave has been targeted on three other occasions, the latest happening on Father's Day.

In the latest raid on Reece's burial place, just yards from the cemetery's Hough Lane entrance and a week after the Journal revealed two women had been attacked in the cemetery, an angel and a model motor bike were stolen from a purpose-made glass display case on the headstone plinth.

But bike-mad Rob won't be clearing the special, personal memorials from Reece's resting place. The father and son bond is still so strong and Rob admitted whenever he gets a new bike, he sets off for the cemetery to let Reece know what he's riding.

"Can't they see he's just a baby?," asked Rob, looking at the photograph of his young son incorporated in the black marble headstone, along with his favourite Disney characters, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

"I don't know how they can sleep at night. I know it is probably kids who have done this but it Turn to Page 3, (Col x) Grave robbers will not let Reece rest From Page 1 is something nobody would have done when I was a teenager.

"I think there should be a security step-up around the cemetery. I just can't understand why kids would want to do this in a cemetery."

Wigan Council Cemeteries Services manager Tony Bassett told the Journal: "We have very great sympathy with the family. We do patrol the borough's cemeteries and we have stepped-up patrols at Tyldesley. Anybody caught will be prosecuted." HEATRBROKEN: Rob Jones at Reece's grave