27 August 2023 , 21:18
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A sick thief has stolen cash from a shrine to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing next to the scene of the terror attack that claimed 270 lives.
The cash was stolen from the memorial room at Tundergarth Church, near Lockerbie, on Friday at 8:45am. It was caught on CCTV which has been seen by Police Scotland, who have now opened the investigation.
Tundergarth Church is right next to the sight of the crash, and donations are required to keep the site open. The PAN AM 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation website says the memorial room is to honour the “270 lives lost in the Lockerbie bombing on 21 December 1988”.
Tundergarth Kirks Trust, who work with PAN AM 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation to look after the room, has asked for the money to be returned. The Trust has recently been hoping to raise funds to build a memorial museum on the site, the Daily Record reported.
Tundergarth Church is right next to the site of the Lockerbie bombing (Dumfries and Galloway Standard)A spokesperson for Tundergarth Kirks Trust said: “It beggars belief that somebody would steal donation money from a place that honours all 270 victims of the worst terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil." The Lockerbie bombing happened in 1988, on a plane travelling from Frankfurt to Detroit - via London and New York City. It was destroyed by a bomb which had been planted on the plane, killing all on board and 11 Lockerbie residents at the crash site.
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It is the deadliest terrorist attack the UK has ever seen. Libyan Intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was given life in jail after being found guilty on 270 charges of murder. Al-Megrahi was released in 2009 on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died in 2012.
The shrine has a money pot for donations - which was stolen from (Dumfries and Galloway Standard)In December last year, a man believed to have built the bomb used in the Lockerbie bombing, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, was arrested. Mas’ud, 71, who allegedly worked for former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was to be the first to face justice in US courts, with 190 of those that died being American.
The case has been deferred due to financial difficulties in finding a defence lawyer, before the US Courts appointed federal public defender Whitney Minter to take on Mas’ud’s case. Mas’ud pleaded not guilty in February, and will now face trial.
The bombing killed 270 people in 1988 (AFP FILES/AFP via Getty Images)Tundergarth Kirks Trust added: “The Tundergarth Kirks Trust and Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation work tirelessly to ensure the church remains open, as well as continually investing in the development of the Victims Memorial Room and the future Memorial Museum, in the 1575 Kirk ruin site. We hope this person will come forward and return the money.”
A scotland >Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were made aware on Friday, August 25, of a theft in the Tundergarth area near Lockerbie. Enquiries are ongoing and at an early stage.”