School of girl who took her own life after being bullied of disgraceful act just weeks after she died

A family has been left shocked after the memorial to their daughter who died during her school years was removed after it was erected.

Year 7 student Charlotte O’Brien took her own life in September after being relentlessly bullied while attending Santa Sabina Catholic School in Strathfield, in Sydney’s west.

After the 12-year-old’s tragic death, her heartbroken family set up a memorial in a tree near the girls’ school.

Charlotte’s aunt Melinda Rodgers explained that this was the only way they could say goodbye to the young girl.

“It was something we wanted to do for Charlotte because we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” she told 9News.

“It was our special way of letting her say something that you mattered and that we miss you.”

The memorial was placed on a tree this weekend, with a small plaque and flowers to pay tribute to Charlotte.

As the family drove past the memorial the next morning, the site had grown in size, while others left flowers of their own to pay tribute to the 12-year-old.

Charlotte’s grandfather, Bill, pictured at the memorial

However, by later Monday afternoon the entire monument had been removed.

The family first realized this when they discovered Charlotte’s grandfather “wandering aimlessly down the street… looking for the memorial to lay his flowers.”

After leaving the flowers at the site of the original monument, they were “devastated” to learn they had also been removed.

“Words cannot express how devastated we were,” Mrs Rodger said.

Paulina Skerman, director of Santa Sabina, confirmed that they had removed the monument ‘due to concerns about the impact it could have on young people’.

She explained that the school was “working with Charlotte’s family to find a permanent and loving way to remember Charlotte” and promised that the 12-year-old “would not be forgotten.”

Despite this reasoning from the school, Charlotte’s father Mat said he “ran out of words” to describe his feelings about the situation.

“From the school’s perspective, if I had been advised to remove those things, I wouldn’t have touched them,” he told 9News, adding that it would be a “positive step” for the school to have a to erect a permanent memorial for his daughter.

Earlier this week, Charlotte’s parents condemned the school for sweeping the issue of bullying under the carpet – a claim the school vehemently denies.

Mr O’Brien told 2GB host Ben Fordham on Tuesday that it took weeks to organize a meeting with school principal Paulina Skerma.

He explained that Mrs. Skerma only approached him and his wife after hearing him on Fordham’s breakfast show in the days leading up to Charlotte’s funeral.

Charlotte’s parents claim the school refused to take responsibility for Charlotte’s bullying after their meeting with her former principal, Paulina Skerma (pictured)

On the evening of Charlotte’s funeral, Mr O’Brien emailed the principal and was told she would not be able to meet as the school would be closed for a few weeks.

When a meeting was finally scheduled, Mr O’Brien said he and his wife held a “glimmer of hope” that the director would be given a chance to reflect on their daughter’s tragic death and reflect on the hurtful comments that she had made in the media.

However, their hopes for positive change were shattered as soon as they arrived at the school.

“That glimmer of hope that something positive would come from that meeting was dashed when we arrived,” Mr O’Brien said.

‘The gates of the school were closed. We weren’t even met at the school gate. We didn’t know where to go.’

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