McLaren, who was killed while testing a CAN-AM car in the United Kingdom in June 1970, is buried at West Auckland’s Waikumete Cemetery, passing away just four years after McLaren first made their debut in Formula 1, winning 12 drivers' titles and ten constructors' championships in its history.

The cemetery also contains memorials to McLaren's wife, Patricia, who died in 2016, along with his parents' headstone, and one for his sister and brother-in-law. All these have been damaged.

"It is with dismay that we need to inform our followers that the graves of Bruce, Patty, Ruth and Pop at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland have recently been vandalised," read the statement from the Bruce McLaren Trust.

New Zealand outlet Stuff reported that these incidents were first discovered at the end of September by George Stewart-Dalzell of Grave Guardians, who repairs and restores graves at the cemetery.

Even after Stewart-Dalzell began repairs, more vandilism occured, with the culprits returning multiple times, removing a protective wrapping placed over the graves in the process.

Other graves nearby were also vandalised that had no relation to the McLaren memorials, with Stuff reporting that the people responsible may have been attempting to repair the graves.

“Before we even got there, you could just see all of this gold paint just all over the stones,” Stewart-Dalzell said to Stuff.