A brass plaque honouring the names of soldiers that died in World War One has been stolen from a site in Leicestershire, with a Midlands businessman vowing to fully restore it.

Adrian Burr, managing director at housebuilder Springbourne Homes, discovered the desecrated memorial in the overgrown grounds of a disused care home which the company is about to re-develop.

Adrian has launched a national appeal to find the names of the war heroes featured on the monument, which is situated at the former Hornsey Rise Memorial home in Wellsborough, near the historic town of Market Bosworth.

He said:

“I was saddened to find the memorial had been forgotten and become overgrown but especially to discover the brass plates with the names of the war dead had been stolen. I was angry someone could commit such a despicable act and immediately decided I would repair and refurbish the memorial and give it pride of place in a ‘peace garden’ within our new development.

“The big challenge now is to find the names of the World War One heroes who were honoured on those brass plaques, so I am appealing for help.

“What we know is that they were all members of the old Natsopa printers’ union, as it was Natsopa which opened the Hornsey Rise Memorial home in 1921. The problem is the Natsopa union doesn’t exist anymore and, although we have scoured some of their record books, we cannot find the details of the names included on
the memorial.”

The Springbourne boss, whose firm is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, intends to pay further homage to the history of the 10-acre Bosworth Road site by naming his new development of 20 luxury homes ‘Hornsey Rise’.

Anyone who has any information about those named on the brass plaques should contact Springbourne Homes at admin(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)springbournehomes.com or call its Head Office on 02476 325900.