A man had to take a sledgehammer to his mother's gravestone after a church deemed the design was too "elaborate".
Mark Doe, 39, set his mother Shirley Jones' £2,200 gravestone, who died age 67 in 2010, in December at the St Mary’s Church in Pulborough but was forced to destroy it because it had three roses in its design.
He told The Argus the Diocese of Chichester gave him three days to remove the headstone after a meeting on Tuesday.
"They said the design was too elaborate. They said the headstone had to be removed completely by Friday," he said.
Mark Doe had to take a sledgehammer to his mother's gravestone
“We’d had talks with the vicar before choosing the headstone. It wasn’t even anything particularly lavish – it came from a catalogue."
Doe said his father was "devastated"
"We had been given until 4 o’clock [on Friday] to remove it but the pins wouldn’t come out so we had to put a sledgehammer to it or break the law."
The Diocese of Chichester told The Huffington Post UK the case referred to an ongoing judgement: “The diocese of Chichester is unable to comment on the ongoing situation with St Mary’s Church in Pulborough until the judgement is complete.”
St Mary’s Church did not respond when contacted by The Huffington Post UK.