Family laid flowers at stranger's grave for 13 YEARS because headstone was put on the wrong plot Eileen Vermiglio thought she was paying respects at the grave of her father She has discovered he was in a different plot after gravestone mix-up Ms Vermiglio has tended the grave of a stranger for more than a decade She said: 'I just broke down when the funeral director told me' A family laid flowers at someone else's grave for 13 years after a headstone was placed on the wrong plot. The heartbreaking mistake only came to light after Eileen Vermiglio's mother died last month at the age of 82, and arrangements were made for her to be interred with her husband Thomas Whelan in the family plot. Mr Whelan was buried at Liverpool's Kirkdale Cemetery after his death at the age of 70 in October 2000. For the next 13 years Ms Vermiglio, along with his widow Kathleen, regularly attended the grave. Mourning: Eileen Vermiglio, who discovered that her late father's headstone had been placed on the wrong grave - an error that only came to light 13 years later when her mum died But, unknown to them, Mr Whelan was buried in an adjacent plot and they were putting flowers on the grave of a complete stranger, which was dug at the same time as Mr Whelan's. Ms Vermiglio said: 'It's been a terrible experience. It was only after my mum died, which was traumatic enough, that the discovery was made that the plot number for my dad's grave didn't match the headstone, and for all this time I have been laying flowers on the wrong grave. I just broke down when the funeral director told me. She added: 'It mainly fell to me to look after it as other members of the family have moved away and I was the main carer for both my mum and dad before they passed away. 'No-one wants to say they're to blame. It's not about compensation - all the money in the world isn't going to change what happened. My main concern is people are made aware that these things can happen. 'I've always been against cremation, but after this I've told my children I want to be cremated because I don't want to put them through what I've been through.' Enduring love: Kathleen Whelan and her husband, Thomas. The family had been tending to the grave of another man and placing flowers on it every week for more than a decade A spokesman for Liverpool council, which owns Kirkdale Cemetery, said: 'The responsibility for the installation of a headstone lies with memorial masons. We provide memorial masons with cemetery section maps and any assistance they request over directions. Quite clearly this service was not requested by the memorial mason at that time. We do not escort masons to graves. The error in placing this headstone came to light when cemeteries staff were making preparations for a burial in the family grave. The stonemasons, Manor Monuments of Anfield, have agreed to inscribe the headstone free of charge before it is put on the family plot, while stressing this was not an admission of liability for the mix-up. Owner Dave Hollywood said: 'It's a sad situation and somewhere along the line someone has made a mistake, but as to who that is, it's a never-ending circle. There were two fresh graves dug at the same time, so there was another, out-of-town stonemason involved in placing the headstone on the other grave.