DISGRACE OF WAR MEMORIAL GRAFFITI

‘There’s never been a problem like this before... it’s caused a shock in the village’:

AWAR memorial dedicated to brave soldiers from North Wales has been sprayed with graffiti.

The memorial, at the Church of the Holy Cross in Llannor, pays respect to those from the Gwynedd village who died during World War I.

It held a centenary celebration last year but at some point last week has been sprayed with bright green paint.

The news was revealed in a statement by the local church on its Facebook page, who accompanied it with photos of the damage.

The post read: “Unfortunately, somebody thinks that it is acceptable to spray graffiti on our War Memorial in Llannor, namely the church gatehouse.”

The church warden, Martyn Croydon, said he believes the monument was targeted on Friday afternoon.

Mr Croydon, 32, said: “There’s never been a problem like this before.

“That’s why it’s caused a shock in the village.”

Martyn suggested that those involved “ought to put it right” themselves and was open to the idea for the vandals to remove the graffiti for the church as punishment.

He added said: “We as a community would like to know why they decided to do this and to express our disappointment in their actions.

“Hopefully this will be a one off event.”

Mr Croydon said there may be a “silver lining to the vandalism” as many people “don’t realise it’s a war memorial,” so the news will raise awareness in the village.

The news has caused upset amongst locals who saw the social media post, with one calling it “very sad.”

Another said there was “no respect for anyone or anything” and added that there should be “shame for whoever did it”.

Another said simply: “That’s a disgrace!”

North Wales Police confirmed it had received a report of the damage: “There’s no further information at this time as it’s being investigated.”

Anyone with information should contact the police on 101 and provide the reference X145456.

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Vandals sprayed graffiti on the gatehouse war memorial at the Church of the Holy Cross in Llannor