The home of a 25-year-old man was petrol-bombed on Sunday after a missing girl’s body was found buried in the garden.

Six-year-old Stacey Adams vanished on Saturday while walking to her mother’s home in Mitchells Plain‚ Cape Town.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut said Stacey’s grandmother reported her missing at Mitchells Plain police station on Sunday.

“An immediate search was launched by SAPS members‚ assisted by neighbourhood watches‚ street committees‚ sector crime forum members and the community policing forum‚” he said.

While searching in De La Rey Street‚ Eastridge‚ where Stacey’s mother lived‚ community members noticed soft soil at a house.

“An investigation led to the discovery of an unidentified body of a child in a shallow grave‚” said Traut.

“While a male person who is a resident at the house was questioned‚ community members became aggressive and made an attempt to harm the 25-year-old man‚ who was now a suspect.

“Stones were thrown at police and the house of the suspect was petrol-bombed and set alight. Police took action to stabilise the situation.”

Traut said the body of the child was yet to be identified‚ and a charge of public violence was being investigated. The suspect would appear in court in Mitchells Plain once he had been charged.