A bereaved young man has made an emotional appeal for thieves to stop stealing decorations from his brother's grave.

Well-liked Zahir Akhtar, a diabetic, died aged 29 in July 1997 from kidney failure and was buried in the Muslim section of Scholemoor Cemetery in Bradford.

Shortly after the funeral, though, flowers and other decorations placed regularly on the grave were destroyed.

Now Zahir's brother Nadeem, 25, of Newport Place, Manningham, is calling for the thieves to stop.

"It is really getting to me. I was very close to my brother," he said.

Nadeem, a sales assistant, said he has put a series of lanterns on the grave so that he could go every day and light a candle for his brother.

The first two were destroyed and he replaced them with a third, which was fastened down with an iron bar.

"This time they took the metal bar with it. It makes me depressed. I haven't stopped crying since I found it yesterday. I know grown men shouldn't cry, but I couldn't stop," he said.

Nadeem added: "I have gone every day since July. Other people have got lanterns there but they are targeting my brother's."

Nadeem said his family - including his father, who has heart problems - were all very upset.

"I keep buying them but they keep going missing. I couldn't care about the cost of the things. It's the principle. How can they do it?"

Sergeant Roy Wensley, of Toller Lane police, said: "It is disgraceful, stealing anything from a grave. We hope someone comes forward with information about who has done it."

He added that videos from closed circuit security cameras, which were installed at the cemetery 18 months ago, will be thoroughly checked.

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