AN ANCIENT 'heart burial' stone has been stolen from a Herefordshire church.

The rare 12th Century religious item was last seen in its normal location by the west door of St Mary's Church in Linton, near Ross-on-Wye on Boxing Day.

Measuring about one foot in diameter and some two inches thick, the circular stone has a prominent cross carved upon it, with a smaller "tailed" Crusader cross in the centre.

It is believed that the stone originally marked a burial.

Anyone with any information about its whereabouts is asked to contact 101 quoting incident number 95s of January 1 2019 and ask for the information to be passed to Neil Darley of Crime Bureau North, Battlefield, Shrewsbury.