Boys vandalise stones as their parents watch

THEY have stood for more than 4,500 years on a Scots island.

But the ancient Machrie Stones on Arran, pictured, have suffered at the hands of modern man after they were vandalised.

A hiker told how two young boys scrawled on the memorial stone while their parents watched in approval.

Ally Campbell, 54, from Dundee, was visiting the site as part of a trek round Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, when she spotted the desecration.

She said: ‘When I challenged them, they told me their sons could express themselves. But surely not like that at a sacred historic place.

‘It’s disgusting and I was so angry but they had already done it. I’ve travelled Scotland and never seen such destructive behaviour ever. One boy was maybe 14 and the other about ten.

‘At the car park, I took their registration number and told them again they were a disgrace. But they just laughed.’