A BRASS memorial Spitfire has been removed from the grave of hero pilot Cecil Hight in Bournemouth.

Its disappearance was noticed by a regular visitor to Bournemouth East Cemetery who has now appealed for its safe return.

Pilot Officer Cecil Hight from New Zealand was killed in the skies above Bournemouth in August 1940 when he was just 22-years-old.

His body fell to the ground in the garden of a house in Leven Avenue and his Spitfire crashed at the junction of Walsford Road and Benellen Avenue, where his memorial now stands.

He was buried in the Gloucester Road cemetery where Bournemouth resident Robert Wilson regularly tends his mother's grave.

Mr Wilson told the Daily Echo: "This is a very special brass Spitfire because it was placed there a few years ago by a man who also left a letter alongside it.

"It said that, as a young boy, he had watched the fatal air battle over Bournemouth in which Cecil Hight was killed."

Mr Wilson added: "Pilot Hight is a hero of Bournemouth. He was a volunteer from New Zealand and he was killed protecting the skies and the people of Bournemouth.

"If the brass Spitfire has been taken by a young boy running and playing among the graves, then I'm sure Cecil Hight will laugh and smile to himself.

"If, however, it was removed by an adult without approval, please return it immediately to its rightful place."

Mr Wilson said the cemetery, formerly known as Boscombe Military Cemetery, is tended by a representative of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who also noticed the disappearance of the brass Spitfire.

He added: "If anyone has a brass Spitfire that they would like to donate, it would be gratefully received and placed on the hero's grave."