The brass plaques had been installed at the Stanwell Tops Monument, along with white crosses, by families commemorating their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice in war.

The missing plaques were noticed when northern residents were preparing for the Lions club Anzac Day memorial service on Tuesday.

Helensburgh Historical Society member and passionate family historian Jenny Donohoe was saddened by the theft, and assumed it could have been someone looking to sell the brass.

In a sense this made it worse, given the pittance they would be worth, compared with the emotional value they held for the families as a memorial.

“We were very upset to see holes in the ground with no names on them,” she said.

“A lot of these things seem to disappear because they're on brass and people can get money for them.

“The few that they probably took wouldn't be worth anything. They're tiny little six-inch by six-inch plaques.” 

The plaques were there only by virtue of the efforts of family members, who had got permission to do so.

“I am not sure how many were removed as our records only give us half a dozen names while the others were badly corroded,” Mrs Donohoe said. “It appears at this stage all the metal plaques had been removed.

“There's all these little white crosses there and their names are missing. It's quite sad.”

War 1 councillor Greg Petty said the memorial theft was “disgraceful”.

“The tradition at this service has been to lay a piece of rosemary on each cross and plaque of local servicemen fallen in war – but of course the plaques had been stolen,” he said.

He said the Lions club would seek council help to replace the plaques.

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said vandalism of any war memorial was “abhorrent”. He encouraged anyone with information about any vandalism of memorials to contact police.

Council was not aware of any previous vandalism that had occurred there.

Dedicated in 1982, the Stanwell Tops Monument is a memorial to those who have fought in all wars since World War I.