The grieving families of a young couple that was murdered in cold blood after their vehicle ran out of fuel, are left stunned after someone vandalised the memorial crosses they put up days before.

Who would want to do such a thing? This is the question families of the murder victims Fleischman and Kuhn are asking themselves. The crosses were erected at the Putfontein off-ramp on May 26.

The two crosses, adorned with photographs of the two victims, served as a tribute to Kuhn and Fleischman, who were shot and killed on the Putfontein bridge on May 26, 2019, after their bakkie ran out of fuel.

The Benoni City Times was at the heartfelt tribute the day the crosses were put up. The mood was sombre as family and friends took turns to pay tribute to the two youngsters.

The newspaper again visited the memorial site last week and found one of the crosses in ruin and the other missing.

Mothers Marika Fleischman and Johanna Kuhn have expressed disappointment that the crosses were vandalised a few days after they were put up.

Fleischman says whoever took the crosses doesn’t have respect for the grieving families.

Kuhn says: “We feel disrespected and are not happy at all. We somehow knew this could happen, but we didn’t think it would be so soon. I don’t know why anyone would destroy or take the crosses down because this memorial has nothing to do with them.”

The couple’s killers, Melusi Gift Shima (25) and Ishmael Hlabathi (32), were each sentenced to two life sentences in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on April 4.

Anyone with information about the vandalism of the memorial crosses should contact CrimeStop on 0860 10111.