A grieving Dumbarton family have been left questioning why touching memorials left at a lochside beauty spot have disappeared three times without trace.
John Kennedy contacted the Lennox after the tributes left to his dad, also called John, were removed from the beach near Duck Bay in Arden.
Tradesman John tragically passed away at the age of 50 in October of last year, with his family creating a memorial tree at the beauty spot he liked to visit with a personalised plaque, flowers and ornaments.
He was a much-loved husband to Annemarie, dad to John Jnr and Dylan, granda to Kalia and Jace and step-granda to Kyran.
And his family say they were left devastated after the memorial vanished without trace.
John Jnr told the Lennox: “My dad died in October and we first put the memorial down in about November time. It means a lot to us, my dad loved Loch Lomond and that wee beach at Duck Bay was his favourite place.
“We thought it would be alright to put a memorial there. There are a few other trees that have memorials on them.
“Dad was a fantastic guy and his death came as such a shock to us all.
“It was a kick in the stomach, I can’t even explain how it felt. We were all really shocked, I can’t understand how it’s possible for someone to do that. It’s sickening.”
The family have since replaced the memorial twice, only to see those also vanish without trace - with Duck Bay Hotel, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and Argyll and Bute Council all saying that they hadn’t removed it.
Pleading for the return of the items, John said he and his family would have no problem removing the items if someone had asked - but that the lack of communication has been the major issue.
He added: “We’re going to continue putting stuff there until we hear otherwise. We’ve phoned and spoken to Duck Bay, the National Park Authority and Argyll and Bute Council - and they have all said that isn’t them.
“If it was a problem then we would’ve moved them if someone had asked. Or even if they’d taken them and left a note there for us. But there’s been nothing. And we’ve put tributes down three times now.
“It’s personal stuff and they mean a lot to us. They aren’t worth anything, so it would be really appreciated if someone could even just return them to the tree for us. It’s made us all really upset.”
