Fury as yobs daub ‘horrible’ graffiti on war memorial
A CLECKHEATON councillor has described the town’s memorial park as a ‘hotspot for anti-social behaviour’ after offensive graffiti appeared on parts of the war memorial.
The words “f*** you” and what appears to be a set of initials – ‘E.C’ – have been spray-painted onto brickwork leading up to the memorial at the park in the town centre. Pictures of the offensive slogan first surfaced on social media on Boxing Day after a passer-by noticed the writing while walking through the park.
The post garnered a large response on Facebook, with some offering to go and clean the graffiti themselves.
Clr Kath Pinnock described the graffiti, which is still visible, as “horrible”.
“Why on earth anybody would think it’s appropriate to put offensive comments on the war memorial is beyond me,” she said. “Family names are recorded on there and what others don’t realise is that they are abusing whole families when they abuse a memorial.”
Clr Pinnock said councillors in Cleckheaton were already aware that the park is susceptible to antisocial behaviour. “We’re aware of two hotspots where anti-social behaviour occurs,” she said. “One of them is the bus station and one of them, unfortunately, is the war memorial park. We have regular meetings with the police and ask them to monitor the hotspots we are aware of at the time.” The Lib Dem councillor also urged anyone who witnesses anti-social behaviour in the park to report it to the police.
“If people report the anti social behaviour to the police on 101, they become aware of the problem and they go there,” she said. “I would urge people to do that. It’s about having pride in our town and that’s one of the symbols of our town’s pride.”
Clr Pinnock added: “I’m sure a cleaning team will be out as soon as they can.”