The owners of a farm where guinea pigs are bred for medical research have vowed to continue running their business, despite the theft of family remains.
Animal rights extremists have been blamed for stealing the body of 82 year-old Gladys Hammond from the graveyard at St Peter's Church in Yoxall, near Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.
Two people have been arrested and released on police bail, but her remains have not been recovered.
Mrs Hammond's son-in-law Christopher Hall and his brother John run Darley Oaks Farm in nearby Newchurch - the target of protests for the last five years.
Yesterday John Hall said that the campaign had left them virtual prisoners at the farm.
He described the desecration as "an absolute outrage" and insisted: "We are just ordinary people doing a job that some people don't like.
"The animal rights fraternity claim we ritually abuse animals for our own pleasure. I can assure you that doesn't happen.
"Why should we give up a legal licensed business that is run in a proper manner and is overseen by the Home Office, just because some people don't like it?"
A candlelit service and rededication of the churchyard took place yesterday afternoon at St Peter's for villagers and other people in the area affected by the desecration.
The ceremony, conducted by the Vicar of Yoxall, the Rev Jenny Lister, was designed to restore a sense of peace to the cemetery.
