Vandal attack on Hartlepool war memorial days after VE Day celebrations slammed by volunteers and council chiefs

Within days of the country celebrating the 75th anniversary VE Day and veterans' sacrifices, some kind of oily liquid was put on the memorial in North Cemetery leaving a dark stain.

It includes the names of 40 people interred in the cemetery who died in the First and Second World War.

Gary Allen, chair of the Friends of North Cemetery, said of the damage: “Obviously, it’s terrible to see.

“We’ve been really lucky over the years with not having vandalism around it.

“When we have remembrance services at the memorial in November, poppy wreaths tend to stay there for months without any interference, so to have something like that happen is sad and unusual.

“The Friends will work to get it removed as quickly as possible.

“Hopefully, it’s a one off and won’t happen again.”

Hartlepool Borough Council said it is taking action to carefully clean the memorial.

A spokesman said: “The substance would appear to be some type of sticky drink and we’re taking steps to carefully clean it off.

“We deplore such vandalism and disrespect to the war memorial.”

The memorial is one of the most recent tributes in Hartlepool having been completed in 2014 as part of a lengthy two-phase project involving the Friends of North Cemetery, Hartlepool Borough Council, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and then MP Iain Wright.

It was positioned in the oldest part of the cemetery close to the foundations of the old lodge near the entrance off Raby Road and Hart Lane.

The Friends group worked with the council’s landscape architect to design and install a decorative path and the money was raised from various funding applications.

A service of dedication was held at the memorial in 2015 when the second phase of the project to reinstate 81 war graves and headstones in the cemetery was completed.

Mr Allen said the Friends group relies on the goodwill of users of the cemetery to keep their eyes open and report any problems.

They can be contacted via their Facebook page.

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