Arrest made in Robert Burns vandalism case

A 17-year-old has been arrested in connection with a vandalism attack on the final resting place of Robert Burns.

The Robert Burns Mausoleum at St Michael's churchyard in Dumfries. Picture: Wikicommons

It follows an investigation into a spraypainted slogan at the Burns Mausoleum and on other headstones in St Michaels Church Yard in Dumfries last weekend.

Local minister, the Rev. Maurice Bond described it as “pointless vandalism.”

Burns, whose works are revered around the world, was first buried in the far corner of St Michael’s churchyard in Dumfries in 1797.

A simple “slab of freestone” was erected as his gravestone by Jean Armour, which some felt insulting to his memory.

His body was eventually moved to its final location in the same cemetery, the Burns Mausoleum, in September 1817.

Through his twelve children, Burns has over 600 living descendants as of 2012.