Community sickened as war memorial vandalised

A north-east community has been left sickened after a war memorial was damaged by vandals just a day after its unveiling.

A memorial garden was officially opened at Dalls Lane in Brechin on Sunday following a Remembrance ceremony conducted by the Rev John Bergen.

The garden included a ceramic horse saddle, designed by Arbroath artist Karen Elliot and dedicated to the millions of fallen horses, alongside Brechin sculptor Tommy Church’s marble globe honouring the 300 men of the town – 144 from Montrose Street alone.

The ceramic horse saddle was broken on Monday and has now been removed for repairs. It will not be returned to the garden in case it is damaged again.

Karen, who is studying HNC ceramics at D&A College, spent 100 hours on the research, design and creation process of the ceramic sculpture, which was worth £4,000.

She was asked by Brechin in Bloom to create a memorial to the eight million fallen horses which were the backbone of the war effort for both sides and she said she was devastated by the vandalism.

Karen said: “I put my heart and soul into this project and Sunday was a very special day for me and to see it vandalised within a day is heartbreaking.

“This was my very first public commission, which just makes this worse, but I’m not going to let it get to me and I want to turn a negative into a positive.”

Karen now plans to raise £7,000 to have it cast in bronze and has started a crowdfunding page.

Karen Elliot with her vandalised ceramic sculpture