A number of war memorials around the United Kingdom were vandalised ahead of Armistice Day, when the country marks the end of the First World War.
Poppy wreaths lain to honour the fallen in Ross-on-Wye, Britain’s “best-loved market town”, for example, were found to have been ripped off the town memorial and tossed in nearby flowerbeds in an act of desecration former mayor Phil Cutter branded “a disgrace”.
“Somehow this has got to be stopped,” he implored.
“I know the police are absolutely pushed and I fully support them, but I feel that when they are going on and off shift and when they are in Ross, parking up their vehicle they could just literally do a walk,” he suggested.
“That might help. Some of the general public are going to see what they can do about reporting these things,” he added.
In Lawley, Telford, meanwhile, the parish council has appealed for people to donate to the Poppy Appeal, a nationally prominent charity drive with strong links to Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, after the roll of honour on its own memorial was defaced.
“We would like to express our sincere thanks to residents that have commented on the damage done to the war memorial who are clearly as angry as we are about it and have offered to contribute towards its repair,” commented council chairman Raj Mehta.
“We are deeply moved by the community spirit being shown and thank you all for your offers.
“If people wish to make a donation to the Poppy Appeal in lieu of any contributions to ourselves, then I am sure they would be very gratefully received, especially this year when fundraising has been badly affected,” he said, referencing the difficulties have experienced raising money due to various anti-coronavirus lockdown measures this year.
Even the remote Isle of Lewis, home of Donald Trump’s Scottish mother, Mary, has seen vandalism, with lights surrounding its war memorial destroyed shortly before the traditional but coronavirus-curtailed Remembrance Sunday ceremony on November 8th.
“Given the amount of engagement with communities throughout the islands at the time of the 100-year commemoration of the Iolaire disaster, this is extremely disappointing and displays a callous lack of respect to the memory of those who served their country,” commented Western Isles Council convenor Norman A Macdonald, referencing a maritime tragedy in which 200 veterans returning to their island home after the First World War were lost at sea on New Year’s Day 1919, within sight of the island’s inhabitants.
“It’s especially disappointing to see this act of vandalism so close to Remembrance Day,” added Alasdair Allan, who represents the Western Isles in the Scottish Parliament.
“The islands suffered a higher proportion of losses in World War I than most other areas of the UK. Our war memorials are a tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” the MSP added.
The spate of vandalism comes as academics and race activists are pushing for various aspects of Britain’s past and its memorialisation in the form of statues and monuments to be reevaluated in the wake of the recent Black Lives matter unrest.
However, no evidence has been disclosed linking the above incidents to the Black Lives Matter movement, which has desecrated a number of monuments including the iconic Cenotaph national war memorial in London in recent months.