Parents ask for return of stolen swings that memorialized their 2-year-old daughter in Attleboro
“This is more heartbreaking than we care to admit.”
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An Attleboro family says they are heartbroken after a playground built in memory of their 2-year-old daughter, Ariella Marie Ouellette, was vandalized for the second time.
The swings from Ariella’s Flutterby Park in Attleboro were cut down and stolen, according to a Friday Facebook post from the Ariella Marie Memorial Foundation.
https://www.facebook.com/ariellamariefoundation/posts/947134715765798?__cft__[0]=AZU0A4QRFJYvU9xBVAEF2E_285Q18pLw-ZIi9_Q1x8aFuHZ2AxIGk6qDSHSPc_dsuYpLg7hWApX1mjcuM3Q-RvzS7wcdPBkVjm545N6VkKKfz1E0uxm3tdvvTX9LqsVYHkN4ohxUPDvR4dRQubUjUsrAUkKhI9kvjPL75XtkYqS5uw&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
The park’s purple solar lights were also reportedly taken.
The local playground is named after Ariella Marie, who died in her sleep just six days after her second birthday in 2017. Doctors determined her death to be a “sudden unexplained death in childhood,” and her family now runs a foundation in her name to raise awareness of SUDC.
Shortly after her death, community members came together to raise money and build the playground on South Main Street in her honor.
“What people need to understand is these are not just things to us. This is not just a park to us,” the nonprofit wrote in their post. “We worked very very hard to build a beautiful memorial for Ariella, but also for every child to come and enjoy. It is a place where we want people to feel safe.”
Alicia Ouellette, Ariella Marie’s mother, told 7News Boston that she just wants the swings returned, as they were a way to remember her daughter’s joy in life.
The foundation added how the park serves as a place for others to come and reflect on what’s most important in life, too.
“We feel like every time we take three steps forward we take five steps back,” they wrote in their post. “This is more heartbreaking than we care to admit.”
The organization said police are now involved, and asked that anyone who has seen or heard anything contact the Attleboro Police Department at 508-222-1212.
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