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More agony has been inflicted on grieving parents Danny and Leila Abdallah after the memorial dedicated to their children was pulled down at the site where they were killed in Sydney’s northwest.
Drunk driver Samuel Davidson ploughed into a group of seven children, who had left a family gathering to get ice-cream at a nearby shop, at Oatlands on February 1 last year.
Siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 8, and their 11-year-old cousin Veronique Sakr were killed in the tragedy.
Last month Davidson, 31, was sentenced to 28 years in prison but will be eligible for parole on January 31, 2041.
On Sunday, 7 News director Jason Morrison posted photos of the memorial on social media, which sits just outside Oatlands Golf Club, revealing it had been pulled down.
It is not known how or why the memorial was pulled down but it prompted a devastating post on social media from Ms Abdallah.
“Hi everyone, last night I drove past and it felt like a knife was put in my heart,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Somebody had the nerve to strip down my kid’s pictures and strip down the temporary memorial on Bettington Rd where the kids passed away.
“Obviously they didn’t have the courage to do it in the day. It was done at night. All over Australia there are memorials in honour of people that have died in car accidents and I have never heard of anyone attempting to get rid of them.
“It disappoints me that the person (s) wouldn’t have the decency to reach out and talk to me.”
The Abdallah family has suffered through further incidents since their children’s deaths.
Last month, they were robbed at their home in Telopea.
Ms Abdallah, 36, was in the kitchen when she saw a man close the front door. He was clutching a bag and other belongings before fleeing when confronted.
The robbery came weeks before a heartbreaking rejection by the board of directors at Oatlands Golf Club to designs for a tasteful memorial to be built on the perimeter of the golf course where the crash occurred.
Oatlands GC directors chose to “close negotiations” for a memorial dedicated to the children after arguing over specifications for the size and design of the memorial.
The club faced heavy backlash on social media and on talkback radio and has since closed its Facebook page.
Ms Abdallah was recently named national mother of the year by Christian organisation FamilyVoice Australia, due to her and Mr Abdallah’s inspiring handling of their tragedy.
The couple publicly forgave Davidson and worked with the NSW government to establish i4give Day.