THE mystery over the disappearance of a five-foot high memorial headstone from a Victoria Cross winner’s grave has been solved.

Police initially launched a criminal investigation after villagers in Churcham reported that the marble memorial to Rorke’s Drift hero Henry Hook had gone missing from his St Andrew’s churchyard grave.

But now it seems that some of the Forest hero’s descendants had given permission for the heavy headstone to be removed and cleaned by a Bristol stonemason.

Hook was one of 11 soldiers awarded the VC in the 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift – the highest number of VC awards for one single act of combat.

The heroism of around 150 British and colonial soldiers in holding out against thousands of Zulu warriors was immortalised in the blockbuster 1964 film Zulu.

But 113 years on from his death, villagers feared that Hook’s grave had been desecrated in the Saxon churchyard after they found it missing on May 19.

Police began a hunt for an organised gang owing to the weight of the monument, and Forest Police Inspector Andy Hodgetts said at the time: “The community hold Henry Hook with great regard and he is cherished by them for his bravery at Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War.

“This theft has ticked me off no end. Items stolen from a shop are replaceable but this is completely different situation.

“The memorial stone is worth a lot more to the community than any value placed on the stone.

“I appeal to those responsible to consider the impact this theft will have on the local community and return the memorial.

“We are currently carrying out an investigation and doing all we can to apprehend the culprits.”

Church warden Paul Charter added: “This was pure sacrilege. I can’t believe it was removed without anyone seeing or hearing anything. It was obviously planned down to the last detail by a very organised gang.”

And Hook’s great niece, Shirley Fowler from Highnam, said: “I am absolutely devastated. How could anyone have stooped so low as to do such a thing like this. I feel so sad about this. I really hope they catch the people who did this.”

But information has now come to light that the stone has been taken off for cleaning and will be returned.

And while “delighted” with the news, Mr Charter said there was a question over whether other members of the family had the right to remove the impressive headstone without asking first, as the money for it was raised by public subscription.

‘We really think we should have been told this was happening beforehand. It would have saved a lot of trouble and embarrassment.

While Hook was awarded the VC for his bravery, the film Zulu wrongly portrayed his character, played by James Booth, as a drunken shirker.

Historian Paul Barnett will be setting the record straight about Private Hook with an illustrated talk at Worrall Hill Social Club, organised by Lydbrook British Legion, on June 27,

And he said: ”He is shown as a hard drinking malingerer while in fact he was a teetotal Methodist lay preacher and a model soldier. He is a fascinating individual and is unique among VCs in that he was the only one presented with his medal on the site where he earned it.”

The 1964 film showed Private Hook becoming a reluctant hero by saving the lives of eight patients stranded in the station hospital.

He was described onscreen as “a thief, a coward, and an insubordinate barrack-room lawyer,” only in the hospital because he was shirking duty.

But the Royal Regiment of Wales, which incorporated Private Hook’s old regiment, has long supported a campaign to restore his reputation.

In 2008, it paid for the Churcham-born hero’s headstone to be restored in the village churchyard.

TV historian Saul David from Monmouth, has also backed Hook as a model soldier in his book Zulu: The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879, revealing that he had been detailed to the hospital to defend up to 30 patients.

At the time, Private Hook’s great-grandson, Cyril Bunting, 53, said: “I’m glad his story is being publicised in a positive rather than a negative light this time. My grandmother was so upset when she saw the film and the way he had been portrayed. That was not how she remembered him.”

Last January, Two Rivers Housing officially named the road of their new Churcham housing development Henry Hook Close.

Hook died aged 54 in 1905 and his VC is displayed at the South Wales Borderers Museum in Brecon.