Memorial in Leicester's Town Hall Square attacked by vandals
Vandals daubed racist graffiti on a war memorial in the latest of a series of incidents of anti-social behaviour involving the statue.
The city council removed a swastika and a racist slur from the memorial in Leicester's Town Hall Square on Tuesday.
A visitor to the memorial claimed he had also seen youths urinating against the granite plinth, which honours more than 300 Leicestershire men killed during the Boer War in South Africa between 1899 and 1902.
Keiran Sharp, 60, of Belgrave, a regular visitor to Town Hall Square, said the spot was littered with fast-food wrappers and he often sees youths climbing on the memorial.
He said: "I've seen them using the memorial wreaths as Frisbees and I've seen them urinating up the side of it too.
"I challenge them about it but get a lot of bad language back and they say they don't care.
"It comes down to a total lack of respect for the people who gave their lives, and also their relatives who still come and visit to pay their respects."
Strips of metal from the front of the memorial were torn off and scattered across the Town Hall Square earlier this month.
The Leicester Mercury made the council aware of the racist graffiti on Tuesday and within two hours it had been removed.
Mr Sharp is urging the council to keep on top of graffiti and remove rubbish.
He said: "I am delighted it has been removed but I hope the statue stays graffiti-free."
Richard Foster, of the Royal British Legion, said he was upset to hear the memorial was being targeted.
He said: "It is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen – and one of few to honour soldiers of the Boer War – so it's very worrying it has been treated with so little respect.
"I can only think it is done by people who are misguided, drunk or don't understand the significance of the memorial."
A council spokesman said: "We take graffiti of a racist, offensive or inflammatory nature very seriously and do our utmost to remove it within 24 hours.
"We have wardens making regular patrols and our cleansing team are regularly in the square doing their best to combat this antisocial behaviour."
Sergeant Nicola Woods said: "Officers in the city centre became aware of this problem about a month ago.
"We increased patrols and any young people believed to be involved in anti-social behaviour were warned about it and asked to leave the area.
"We have raised the issue of littering with the wardens and are in discussions with the council regarding long term measures which can be taken."
3 Comments
by Craig Leicester, Leicester
Friday, September 03 2010, 6:49AM
“This is criminal damage and i wouldnt be surprised if it carried a few other charges, what with the upset etc caused to familys of the soldiers being remembered.
i wouldnt be surprised at all if we see a few racist slurs or national front logos sprayed around over the next few weeks, as its a typical tactic of groups like the uaf. who will be busy spreading their hate around Leicester over the next few weeks.”
by Julie, Leicester
Thursday, September 02 2010, 2:53PM
“To me this sounds like a prime example of somewhere that needs a CCTV camera focused on it. -We can't realistically ask the police to commit to guarding it during 'drinking' hours as they are obviously needed elsewhere then.
Put up CCTV focused on the memorial, record those repsonsible -then publish the photos. Then let's see how big they feel when their own Grandads know what they've done.”
by Kulgan, Crydee
Thursday, September 02 2010, 9:49AM
“Why is this classed as Anti-Social Behaviour. IT IS CRIMINAL DAMAGE.”