Jessica Beth Small was just 15 when she was abducted from Kelso in the early hours of Sunday, October 26, 1997.

Her body has never been found, and with no grave, her family erected a cross in her memory on Hereford Street, where she was last seen alive.

Her family regularly tend to the site and, every year, on Jessica's birthday, and the anniversary of her abduction, her family leave flowers at the site.

But on Monday morning, her mum Ricki noticed something amiss as she drove past.

Mrs Small said flowers seemed to be missing from the top of the cross, but she kept driving, assuming they had blown off in the wind.

A short time later, she got a message via Facebook that someone who was walking past had noticed more significant damage.

Mrs Small called her daughter Rebecca Small, who lives near Kelso, to check.

When she arrived, Rebecca Small said she was devastated with what she found.

"Really, we are just struggling to understand why," she said.

"Mum rang me and said she received a message saying the plaque on the cross has been damaged.

"I told her I was on my way to tenpin bowling and would call in on the way past, and found this," she said, pointing to the broken metal heart.

She said she was shattered by what she found: rose bushes ripped out and stomped on, flowers which adorned the cross pulled off and thrown all over the grass, and the plaque, with messages for the 15-year-old, bent and destroyed.

"I found the bushes all trampled on, the flowers everywhere, the cross totally destroyed," she said.

"I just don't understand why, or what is wrong with people.

"The plaque has been bent over and broken, and all of this just three weeks from her anniversary."

Ms Small said the memorial is especially significant to the family because Jessica has no grave.

"This is where we come; this is all we have. When we are thinking about her, this is where we are."

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She said a lot of effort had gone into creating the shrine.

"Rob [Neal], bless his heart, went and got the plaque especially made and it had been on here quite a few years now.

"Mum comes down here every birthday and anniversary and we put fresh flowers on it so it all looks nice and fresh. We trim back the rose bushes; Rob comes down and mows around here.

"We try and make sure it's maintained so no-one can complain about any type of mess or anything.

"It's not an eyesore for anyone.

"I just can't understand. I'm gobsmacked that it's been totally destroyed the way it has.

"I just don't get it.

"Mum and I were just recently talking about the new flowers and giving it [the cross] a new coat of paint to freshen it up for her anniversary. Now it's going to take a lot more than that.

"We are just devastated. I just don't know who would be so heartless."

Being so close to Jessica's anniversary makes it all the harder, she said.

"She is always on our minds, but this time of year it always hits home.

"I just can't believe it's been 26 years [since Jessica was taken]. It's like it was yesterday, but it's also been so long and we've just had no luck with any information or anything.

"You hang on to hope that one day, you know, you might find out or find something, and then something like this happens.

"It hurts. This is the last spot that we know of she was alive. This is where she fought for her life.

"I'm gobsmacked someone could do this."

Jessica's mum, Ricki Small, was equally lost for words.

"I'm just very saddened by it all, and I just don't see any sense in it," she said.

"It's just not necessary for anyone to do it.

"Any comments I ever have on the cross are people talking about how nice it looks. I can't understand the thought behind damaging it.

"It's just nasty, cruel and thoughtless."

The family said they hope to have the memorial repaired by Jessica's anniversary on October 26.

A $1 million reward, which was announced in 2018, still stands for information leading to the conviction of Jessica Small's killer.

Anyone with information on her abduction is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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