IRA victims’ memorial targeted in ‘sectarian hate crime’
The vandalism of a memorial to the victims of a 1988 IRA bombing has been described by the PSNI as a “sectarian hate crime”.
The Ballygawley bus-bomb memorial (pictured) on the Curr Road in Co Tyrone was damaged extensively overnight between Thursday and Friday, police believe.
The memorial marks the spot where an IRA roadside bomb attack on a bus carrying soldiers claimed the lives of eight people.
Victims’ organisation, the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), condemned the vandalism to the memorial. SEFF’s director of services Kenny Donaldson said: “To desecrate a space which seeks to respectfully remember the dead is beyond words.
“A wooden structure of circa 20 foot in length which housed wreaths and poppy crosses was absolutely destroyed, interpretive panels have been damaged beyond repair and there is also significant structural damage to the main memorial.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: “The memorial has been extensively damaged and the incident is being perceived as a sectarian hate crime.”