A daughter has appealed to the public for help after a Rangers Football Club stone plaque went missing from her dad’s grave at Tranent Cemetery.

Jayne Cockburn, 37, is worried that the plaque may have been stolen from dad Ian Cockburn’s final resting place.

She had driven from Hawick to Tranent, a distance of over 50 miles, earlier this week to visit the grave when she saw the plaque, which features the Rangers badge along with the words, 'Simply the best', was gone.

The slate plaque is charcoal in colour and is about 12 inches long and eight inches wide.

Jayne told the Courier: “I was very sad and angry when I realised the plaque had disappeared.

“I asked family members if they had removed the plaque but no one had removed it and had no idea where it had went.”

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Ian lived in Hawick but spent time in Macmerry where his parents resided and wished to be buried at Tranent Cemetery next to his son, who was also named Ian, who died when he was young.

Ian passed away in June 2018 at the age of 71 due to a heart attack at his home in Hawick where he had stayed for 30 years.

He was a Rangers fan and attended matches with his son John, who left the plaque at his grave following his death.

Jayne said: “The Rangers plaque was laid by my brother. The connection with Rangers is purely a father and son bond who share an interest in the football club and team.

“They attended games together in dad's better and healthier years and had a bond over football.

“My brother is particularly upset about it just vanishing into thin air."

Jayne said that while she was not hopeful of getting the plaque back, she hoped she could raise some awareness and prevent others from having items 'lost' from graves.

She said: “We travel 50-odd miles every time to get to the grave so to go and find things not there is very upsetting.

“Hopefully someone, somewhere comes forward with some sort of explanation regarding its disappearance but I highly doubt it.”