Melissa Richmond roadside memorial vandalized as husband's trial date nears

Police and the family of homicide victim Melissa Richmondare asking anyone who removed photos and other memorabilia from her roadside memorial to return the missing items.

The 28-year-old's body was found in a ditch near the South Keys Shopping Centre on July 28, 2013, just four days after she was reported missing by her husband, 52-year-old Howard Richmond.

He was later charged with first-degree murder and his trial is set to begin on Sept. 28.

Police believe the recent disappearance of the memorial's photographs and poems, which identify Melissa Richmond, was a targeted incident.

"This memorial had been there for the past two years and there's never been any damage to it. And in the past couple weeks, anything that's directly associated to Melissa has been removed from that memorial," saidDet. Chris Benson, an investigator in the Ottawa police major crimes unit, on Monday night.

"It's like a direct revictimization of Melissa and her family and her friends. ...I believe it's targetedbecause only the photographs and anything with Melissa's name has been removed. Everything else has been left as it was, such as the flowers and the display itself."

Police believe the memorial was vandalized sometimein the past two to three weeks.

Melissa Richmond's father, Raymond Evans, told CBC News a friend alerted the family late last week that the memorial hadbeen "stripped bare" of his daughter's memory.

The family drove from Pembroke, Ont., on Sunday to see the memorial for themselves andcalled police Monday morning.

The missing items can be returned to the memorial site or to police.