Ballycastle War Memorial: Poppy wreaths laid in memory of soldiers who died at the Somme destroyed in weekend desecration
North Antrim TUV MLA Timothy Gaston has told of his disgust at the desecration of Ballycastle War Memorial over the weekend.
“I am appalled by the desecration of Ballycastle War Memorial,” he said.
"Poppy wreaths laid just a few weeks ago in memory of those who died at the Somme have been destroyed.
"Flowers which have been planted in pots around the memorial have been ripped out and strewn around the area.
“I have contacted the council to ask that action is taken immediately to clean up the mess and have challenged the PSNI to check CCTV footage in the area to see if the attack has been captured on camera.
“This disgusting incident not only shows disrespect to the war dead but will raise community tensions at a volatile time.”
Mr Gaston added: “Over the past month I’ve been in Ballycastle assisting a number of constituents from across the divide and I want to stress that this behaviour certainly isn’t reflective of the beautiful town or its people.
“I would appeal to those who will rightly be outraged by this to leave dealing with the matter to the PSNI and for anyone with information to come forward to the police.”
When asked about the incident, a PSNI spokesman said: “Police are investigating after damage was caused to a war memorial on Quay Road in Ballycastle.
"Planters were emptied, a rail broken and a wreath removed from the memorial early on the morning of Sunday 4 August.
"Anyone with information regarding this crime can contact police on 101, quoting reference 660 04/08/24.
"Information can also be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/”