Bruce McLaren in 1960. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) Photo: Bernard Cahier
The graves of Kiwi motorsport legend Bruce McLaren and his wife have been vandalised at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland.
The family said it is shocked by the damage to the headstones which have been sprayed with gold paint. Toy cars have been stuck onto them as well.
"We are lost for words as to why anyone would do this," the Bruce McLaren Trust in a statement said.
The graves are of Bruce McLaren, the racing driver and motorsport executive in Formula One, as well as his wife Patricia, known as Patty. The Trust said the headstone of his mother, Ruth, and father Les, known as Pop, had also been damaged.
The Trust said it was grateful to the Grave Guardians, a voluntary organisation that restores headstones who have offered to help.
The headstones would be wrapped while repairs are under way, it said.
Auckland Council condemned the damage.
"This is senseless behaviour, there's no other word for it," operations manager for cemetery services Sheree Stout said.
"I think they just don't realise how much it affects the whanau. Why? It's always the question, there just seems to be no sense involved in it."
Stout said vandalism in cemeteries was rare but deeply hurtful.
"It seems to be, in the 10 years I've worked here, it's very random. It doesn't happen all the time, thank goodness, but every now and then we get these acts of vandalism that bring up all that hurt and pain again for the family ... we condemn it," she said.
Though Waikumete Cemetery had security cameras, Stout noted the grounds were too large to cover comprehensively.
Waikumete is the largest cemetery by land area in New Zealand and the second largest in Australasia, Stout said.
"We're talking 350 acres, so it's very hard to have cameras everywhere and a cemetery is always open for pedestrians."
Stout urged anyone who saw people vandalising in a cemetery or any other public space to call 105 or notify the council.
She also reminded would-be vandals that headstones were the property and responsibility of the deceaseds' families, so any damage would hurt them financially.
McLaren was one of New Zealand's biggest names in motorsport.
He won four Grands Prix between 1958 and 1970.
He founded McLaren in 1963.
To this day it remains the only team to complete what is known as the Triple Crown of Motorsport - winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix.
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