The memorial was erected in 2009 for the BBC Torchwood character Ianto Jones
CARDIFF Bay’s shrine to Ianto Jones was targeted by thieves during the Welsh ‘fire-break’ lockdown.
The shrine was set up following the “death” in 2009 of Ianto Jones, a character played by Gareth David-Lloyd in the Dr Who spinoff, Torchwood, which was filmed and set in Cardiff.
The thieves stole Halloween decorations including eight spiders, four skeletons, two headbands, bunting and pumpkin decorations along with three lots of tinsel. All that was left were two lots of purple tinsel.
The official caretaker Carol-Anne Hillman, 68, estimated that around £13 worth of decorations had been taken.
Carol-Anne said: “I paid for all the decorations myself up until July 2019. I’m a pensioner so I cannot pay much. The donations have paid for all the decorations since then.”
One of the items taken belonged to Carol-Anne’s friend Jann in New Zealand, who lost her best friend. As she was also a Torchwood fan, Jann put a tribute on the shrine and a new action figure.
Jann wrote: “I placed a memorial on the wall in 2011 for a friend who had passed away in 2010, however, someone stole the figure but left the written tribute.”
Every Christmas, Easter, and even Valentine’s Day, it is Carol-Anne’s job to add new decorations to the shrine in Mermaid Quay and to remove those that are now unreadable.
With Christmas fast approaching, Carol-Anne is already planning what she will do for the big holiday season.
“I’m decorating the shrine for Christmas on the 26th November and I am putting cards up from fans too.”
Carol-Anne also plans to use better material such as tape to make sure that more decorations aren’t stolen. The memorial has had tributes sent in from New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Ireland, Germany, America and Belgium over the past 11 years.
