It was reported that armed security guards have been placed at Whitney Houston’s grave to prevent grave robbers from plundering $500,000 worth of jewels and clothing the singer was buried in.

Round-the-clock guards are protecting the grave at the Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey, despite the area being closed to the general public earlier this week.

A source told the Daily Star: “There is a very genuine fear that her coffin will be targeted by grave robbers.

“It would be hard for them to actually dig her casket up, but that won’t stop psychotic fans or people who think it could make them money.

“The fact she was buried with such valuable jewellery is just an invitation to sickos.

“It’s ironic that Whitney, who was most famous for The Bodyguard movie when she was alive, has to have bodyguards even in death.”

Whitney Houston, who died on February 11 aged 48, is understood to have been buried in a gold lined casket worth upwards of $15,000, and wearing a diamond brooch and earrings.

The overwhelming number of fans paying visits to the grave following Whitney Houston’s burial on February 19 forced official to close the cemetery to the public indefinitely.

Armed security guards have been placed at Whitney Houston's grave to prevent grave robbers from plundering $500,000 worth of jewels and clothing the singer was buried in

Police Captain Cliff Auchter said that overcrowding and traffic congestion led to the decision.

“It’s a private property, and it’s up to them to make that decision,” Cliff Auchter he told reporters.

“It was done in light of the overcrowding that occurred. The cemetery is a maze of very small roads, so if two cars come face to face, you have a Mexican standoff.”

The situation is being evaluated on a daily basis, Cliff Auchter added, and those with relatives buried on the site will not be affected by the ban.

Meanwhile a source close to Whitney Houston’s family spoke of their rage at the publication of the late singer in her coffin by The National Enquirer.

“Seeing Whitney at a funeral home for the final time was a very intimate moment for her closest relatives, and that’s exactly how it should have been kept,” the Mirror quoted the source.

“For a magazine to be profiting from their grief is a disgrace.”

Whitney Houston was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hilton hotel room in Los Angeles on February 11.