McLaren — founder of the McLaren Formula 1 team and one of New Zealand’s most celebrated motorsport figures — was killed in 1970 during a testing crash in the United Kingdom.
He was buried in West Auckland alongside his wife Patricia, who passed away in 2016, and near the graves of his parents, sister and brother-in-law.
The Bruce McLaren Trust confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the graves of Bruce, Patricia, Ruth and “Pop” had been targeted.
“They have been sprayed with gold paint and had toy cars stuck onto them. We are lost for words as to why anyone would do this,” the trust said.
“A very kind offer has been made by The Grave Guardians, a voluntary organisation that restores headstones to repair the damage, for which we are extremely grateful.
“While this work is being undertaken, the stones are wrapped and unable to be viewed.”
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🚨#Mclaren founder Bruce McLaren’s grave and those of his family have been vandalised in West Auckland. Gold paint was sprayed and toy cars were stuck to the headstones.
The Bruce McLaren Trust thanked The Grave Guardians, for offering to repair the damage.#F1 pic.twitter.com/9jUlOshTiq
— MotorsportsClicks (@MotorspoClicks) November 5, 2025
According to Stuff, the damage was first discovered in late September by George Stewart-Dalzell from The Grave Guardians, who found gold paint covering the headstones and toy cars glued to Bruce and Patricia’s grave.
The phrase “until we meet again Darling” — which had been blacked out following Patricia’s death — was also refilled with gold paint.
Stewart-Dalzell told 1News she initially hoped the acts were not malicious but rather a misguided attempt to restore the graves.
“It was absolute carnage, we wrapped them and, in the space of a day, someone has unwrapped it and had another crack at Bruce’s stone,” she said.
“People think that headstones are public property because they’re in a cemetery and they can do what they like.
“I look at TikTok and Instagram and there are people using water blasters and blow torches and wire brushes and stuff like that, and I think they think they can grab some paint from the two dollar shop and come and repaint, not realising that damages the stone.”
Around a dozen other nearby headstones were also splattered with gold paint, and the grave belonging to McLaren’s sister and brother-in-law suffered bleach damage.
Even after repairs began, the vandal is believed to have returned multiple times and removed protective wrappings from the site.
Auckland Council cemetery services manager Nikki Nelson told 1News the local authority “strongly condemns the actions of the individuals” involved.
“Sadly, we do experience incidents of vandalism at Auckland cemeteries from time to time. Prevention is difficult because cemeteries are public places that can be visited at any time,” she said.
“We have CCTV at Waikumete, Manukau Memorial and North Shore Memorial cemeteries, with additional cameras recently installed at Waikumete Cemetery to help deter vandalism.”
She urged anyone who notices damage to graves to report it to police rather than attempting to make their own repairs.
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