Let’s name and shame these yobs

A call to force those who trashed a cemetery garden to wear a sandwich board in public declaring their guilt is just one of the more printable responses we’ve had to this awful act of vandalism.

Few can understand what possesses anyone to damage a space set aside for children who have died.

It would be less hurtful to think that those responsible didn’t realise it was a baby garden, but we would be kidding ourselves.

With toys, teddy bears and other children’s mementos on show it would be perfectly clear to anyone in the area that this was a baby graveyard.

This is a cruel and heartless attack which has only heaped more heartache and upset on families who have suffered tragic loss.

It’s little wonder that a petition calling on greater security in the area has proved so popular.

As we went to press, more than 400 signatures had already been gathered.

But how much can be done? We don’t want cemeteries to be forbidding places, surrounded by barbed wire fences and security cameras. We want them to be open, tranquil areas of calm and reflection.

Our police too, have more pressing concerns these day, particularly in light of the terrorist threat gripping our nation.

The authorities need to reassess security at our cemeteries, but the public needs to question what we can do to identify the culprits, in particular, the parents of youngsters roaming our streets at night.

If anyone has any information about those responsible they should report them immediately.

We won’t use a sandwich board, but nothing would give us greater pleasure than naming and shaming the low lifes responsible for this atrocious attack.