Community outraged as woman cuts down memorial to little boy, saying 'grieving time is over' A woman was seen cutting down a memorial that sprang up at the place a 12-year-old boy was killed by a van in October When questioned, she said people had grieved long enough and that there had been 'enough mourning' Sammy Eckstein was killed when he ran onto the road to retrieve a ball by a van-driver who was going too fast to stop His family live opposite Brooklyn's Prospect Park where he died Eckstein's mother said she 'cried inconsolably' when she heard about the woman cutting down her son's memorial The witness called police but the woman was later seen leaving the park Friends have replaced items at the memorial A New York woman has taken it upon herself to dismantle a memorial for a 12-year-old boy who died after being hit by a van. The memorial sprang up at Prospect Park West after Sammy Cohen Eckstein was struck and killed by a commercial van when he ran into the street to retrieve his ball in October. The woman was spotted at the 3rd Street entrance to the park cutting all the mementos off the memorial. Memorial: The memorial to Sammy Eckstein sprang up as friends, neighbors and well-wishers paid tribute to the boy with teddy bears, letters and photos 'The woman came prepared with a scissor and large shopping bag to put the mementos in,' a witness told the local blog F***ed in Park Slope. The witness says a local whose child had been friends with Sammy Eckstein was also passing as the woman dismantled the memorial, located where Sammy was struck by the van and also across the road from where Sammy's mother, father and sister still live. The parent reportedly yelled at the woman, who responded that she felt there had been 'enough mourning.' She also said she felt the had the right to cut down the memorial because she lives in Park Slope. I told her I was calling the police and she said she would sit on the bench and wait for them, which she did. The police arrived in less than 3 minutes and the two officers looked incredulous when we told them what she had done,' the witness said. 'Since she was holding scissors and didn't seem quite right, I felt it best to leave the rest in the hands of the police. Unfortunately I later saw her emerging from the park at the Grand Army entrance. Grieving: Amy Cohen, Gary Eckhart and their daughter Tamar lost their beloved Sammy in October last year The touching memorial, which is full of flowers, teddy bears, letters and photos and drawings of Sammy Eckstein sprang up in the days and weeks after the young boy's death. Sammy Eckstein's mother Amy Cohen told Gothamist that a friend had read about the incident on Facebook and informed her. 'I cried inconsolably when I heard but I have no more information,' she wrote in an email. Friends have since replaced the missing items at Cohen's son's memorial. Danger: The Eckstein family want cars to slow down in residential neighborhoods, especially near parks, such as Prospect Park (pictured) and areas where children play Cohen, her husband Gary Eckstein and their daughter Tamar have been lobbying to lower the speed limit on neighborhood streets to 20 miles per hour in the hope of preventing another tragic death. 'Pedestrians and cyclists do occasionally make mistakes, but they should not have to pay for that with their own lives,' Gary Eckstein said in a community meeting after Sammy's death. He told Gothamist that the driver who killed his son admitted that he saw the ball rolling in the street, as well as other cars stopped, and continued to hit the gas anyway.