Vandals attempt to set war memorial on fire hours before D-Day anniversary

Vandals attempted to set a war memorial on fire only hours before the 80th anniversary of D-Day, police have said.

Criminals knocked over the cenotaph in the village of Long Ashton, Somerset, and damaged it with a flagpole.

Detectives believe the memorial was targeted between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and are searching for suspects.

Pc James Coglan, of Avon and Somerset Police said: “We fully appreciate the sensitivity around this incident, particularly given the timing, and will be conducting a thorough investigation.

“Inquiries to identify those responsible are ongoing, and we would encourage anyone who has any information to contact us.”

Volunteers discovered the damaged memorial lying on the ground in Keedwell Hill at around 6am on Wednesday.

Dave Addis, the secretary of the village’s Royal British Legion branch, told the BBC: “They picked up what was to become our flagpole and used it to lever the war memorial down, and that was when they failed to set light to it.

“We won’t do anything until tomorrow now. The main event will continue tomorrow, but it might not be with all the facilities we had in mind.

“They’ve given us a crime reference number, but I think they regard that as vandalism, whereas I regard it as desecrating a war memorial, which is slightly different.”

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said: “An investigation has been launched after the cenotaph in Keedwell Hill, Long Ashton, was damaged.

“We were called shortly after 11am on June 5 to a report that the memorial had been damaged with a flagpole before an attempt was made to set it alight. This is believed to have taken place between 8pm on Tuesday June 4  and 8am Wednesday June 5.”