By Ollie Ritchie
Jonah Lomu's widow and mother are at odds over the upkeep of his grave.
Nadene Lomu has complained that flowers and gifts left by their two sons are being removed, but now the All Black great's mother has told 3 News, she's the one who's been taking the flowers.
A simple white cross marks the spot where the most exciting rugby player of all time now lies. Lomu's two young sons came here to remember him, leave flowers and tokens such as small windmills and toys.
But now it's a place of turmoil because those mementoes have gone missing.
His wife Nadene took to Facebook this morning regarding the ordeal, saying it upset her that things they'd chosen for Jonah had gone missing from his place of rest.
Then later in the day, Lomu's mother Hepi was visiting her son's grave when she said she removed the flowers because the grave was sinking and needed to be filled in by the staff of the Manukau Memorial Gardens.
"They said to remove the flowers because they say if they have flowers from top to the bottom then they won't put any soil."
Auckland Council says its standard practice for staff to remove flowers and other items during maintenance.
It says when this happens they move the items up onto the concrete firm, so that staff can continue to mow through the area.
Due to the fact Jonah's grave is a lawn grave, only inside the first two weeks after burial can flowers be put on the grave itself. After that all flowers and other decorations must go on the concrete next to it
And as for the tokens left by Lomu's sons that Nadene believes were removed from the site, Hepi says that is not the case.
"No one took them off; the wind blew them and broke them."
Nadene is still not convinced by that explanation and the division between the two women Jonah left behind continues to grow.
3 News
