A PLAQUE commemorating eight men who died in World War One was found dumped in a Bournemouth garden.

An appeal has gone out for information about which church originally housed the memorial so that it can be put back on display.

The large plaque was handed in at Bournemouth’s Wimborne Road cemetery on Friday after a council cleansing worker found it in a garden in Charminster Road.

Cemetery ground worker Umberto Finocchiaro said: “Somebody from the council found it in a garden.

“They brought it in here and left it with us.”

He said from the state of the memorial, it looked as though it had been fixed outside.

The plaque records the names of eight ‘men of this church’ who died in what was then called the Great War.

The end date of the war is given as 1919 rather than 1918, perhaps suggesting one or more of the men died later on of wounds suffered in the war.

Linda Barker, bereavement services manager at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “It was brought here having been found dumped somewhere along Charminster Road.

“Because it’s a commemorative thing, the individual thought they would bring it here. It hasn’t come from here and we’ve looked at it.

“We need to hopefully find out where it’s come from.

“We just feel when we’re coming up to the 100th anniversary of the First World War, this should be back where it was originally placed if that’s possible.

“It needs to be cleaned up and put back somewhere.”

Anyone with information should ring Bournemouth council’s bereavement services team on 01202 526238.

The inscription reads...

“To the glory of God and in everlasting remembrance of the following men of this church who laid down their lives for righteousness and liberty in the Great War of 1914-19 (sic).

“William A Herbert, Robert Carter, George Cook, Victor Goom, Fred I Clarke, William Polden, Douglas Best, Leonard Nicklen.

“The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God.”