Rotorua whanau's plea for return of pounamu taonga from grave

A Rotorua whanau's social media plea for information about a stolen pounamu from their son's grave site has been shared nearly four thousand times. For three years, the dark-green - circle-shaped taonga has sat on Kurtis Jones' grave at Kauae Cemetery in Rotorua. His partner and family had it made for him following his death, and had placed it on a plaque, engraved with the words 'aroha pumau, mo ake tonu atu - my deepest love for evermore'. But last week the family noticed it was missing, and decided to notify the police on Tuesday. Kurtis Jone's sister, Turene Huiarau Jones, told Te Aniwa Hurihanganui the whanau are devastated it's been taken - and urge anyone with information to come forward.