In short:
The Bunbury Cemetery Board has stunned local families by ordering "non-compliant" gravesite tributes and markers to be removed within 28 days.
Denise Thornborough says she will be devastated if she is unable to return the homemade tributes, which had been in place for more than a decade, to her daughter's grave.
What's next?
The board says it is bound by state laws and regulations, which local families are now pushing to change.
Families have been left heartbroken by a bureaucratic order to remove headstones, tributes and other keepsakes from loved ones' graves in a West Australian cemetery.
The Bunbury Cemetery Board sent out letters last month, alerting custodians to a grave site audit.
The letter cited a need to keep memorial gardens and the cemetery "safe, tidy and fair for everyone", giving those contacted a 28-day notice to remove tributes "not compliant" with regulations.
The move has sparked backlash from locals, with a family's online petition to get the by-laws changed garnering almost 800 signatures.
Mother 'broken' by move
When Denise Thornborough's daughter, Linda McDonald, died 13 years ago, she and her family could not afford a headstone.
On top of funeral fees, a headstone can cost families up to $5,000, with even simpler plaques and grave markers advertised at hundreds of dollars.
Instead, the family began leaving handmade items, crosses and an angel statue, to mark Linda's final resting place and to pay tribute to her and her legacy.
Heartbroken family members spent Tuesday night clearing the gravesite, ahead of the cemetery board deadline.
"I didn't even get close to it; I only glanced over, and it feels like it's just broken," Ms Thornborough said.
"I just walked past and you can see there's nothing there — it's just empty."
Linda's sister, Jaimie Jones, said the cost should not dictate how a family remembers their loved ones.
"That's not what this is about. It's not what grief is about," she said.
Board bound by by-laws
Bunbury Cemetery Board chief executive Kristy Constantine said it was a state government authority, bound by laws and safety requirements.
"We are responsible for every member of staff and every member of the public that comes to site," she said.
"If the headstones are unauthorised and they have items that can be broken or may cause detriment to the cemetery, to the cemetery workers and any members of the public … they have to be removed."
By-laws have been in place for more than 30 years.
Ms Constantine said the lawn cemetery, where Linda's grave was located, posed particular challenges when it came to upkeep.
She said there was no ability to grant individual exemptions.
"We have to use machinery, and we need to make sure that everybody is safe," she said.
"We're not able to show any preferential treatment to anyone on site."
Families confused by timing
Ms Jones said she did not understand why her sister's resting place had to be disturbed after 13 years.
"That's probably one of the biggest things that has confused and frustrated us because it's been so long," she said.
"There was nothing, no breakables or anything, that could hurt anyone."
Linda's family is not alone.
Peter Trenerry's son Shane died seven years ago.
Mr Trenerry said the angel statue placed at his son's grave was an important part of how he and his wife grieved.
"We didn't have much money at the time … so we wanted to do as good as we can," he said.
"So we got the angel. It was just perfect.
"It breaks your heart to see that after a few years, someone's come along and said: 'You've got to get rid of your son's grave.'"
Ms Constantine said the board understood the stress placed on loved ones.
"It's not something that we do lightheartedly," she said.
"But we need to make sure that everyone is compliant."
