Vandalism of IRA murder memorial is a ‘hate crime’

 Police are treating the desecration of wreaths at the site where 18 soldiers were murdered by the IRA as a hate crime, amid reports that football fans were to blame.

Poppy wreaths, crosses and tributes were vandalised at Narrow Water, near Warrenpoint in Co Down, where a British Army convoy was ambushed by two roadside bombs in 1979.

Belfast-based Cliftonville Football Club, whose supporters are mostly drawn from the nationalist and republican traditions in Northern Ireland, said it was aware of reports that some people returning from Saturday’s fixture against Warrenpoint Town were responsible.

The club condemned the incident as “pathetic” and made clear that the perpetrators were not an official or affiliated supporters’ club.

Gerard Lawlor, the club’s chairman, said: “We live in a sad society where anyone would get a kick out of desecrating a memorial.

“This pathetic act isn’t in my name or that of Cliftonville Football Club.”

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said: “The incident is being treated as a hate crime.”