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Service after Cenotaph graffiti | Service after Cenotaph graffiti |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Remembrance Sunday service has gone ahead at a memorial in West Sussex which was defaced with Nazi swastikas. | |
Vandals daubed the 14ft (4.3m) stone cross in Worthing in the early hours of Saturday. A nearby home and shop were also daubed with anti-Semitic graffiti. | |
When 100 war veterans held a two minute silence at the memorial on Saturday, the outlines of the symbols could still be seen, the town's mayor said. | When 100 war veterans held a two minute silence at the memorial on Saturday, the outlines of the symbols could still be seen, the town's mayor said. |
"There were a lot of very, very angry people at the Cenotaph," said Tom Wye. | |
'In tears' | 'In tears' |
"There was the clear shadow line of a swastika... they could not believe that anybody could be so sick as to deface a war memorial on Armistice Day. | "There was the clear shadow line of a swastika... they could not believe that anybody could be so sick as to deface a war memorial on Armistice Day. |
"There were a lot of widows there in tears. That's quite normal at that service but I think some of the tears were brought on purely by that abominable behaviour." | "There were a lot of widows there in tears. That's quite normal at that service but I think some of the tears were brought on purely by that abominable behaviour." |
The service was attended by members of the public, MPs, councillors, representatives from The Royal British Legion, Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Corps, Air Training Corps, Scouts and Guides. | |
After a wreath laying ceremony, the groups paraded through the town centre accompanied by a Salvation Army Band. | |
'Offensive behaviour' | 'Offensive behaviour' |
Mr Wye said: "If the police had brought this person to the cenotaph I would not have liked to have been responsible for the behaviour of the veterans. They were really, really upset." | |
Sussex Police were called to the Chapel Road memorial at about 0630 GMT on Saturday. | Sussex Police were called to the Chapel Road memorial at about 0630 GMT on Saturday. |
The house and shop that were targeted were in nearby Portland Road and Montague Street. | The house and shop that were targeted were in nearby Portland Road and Montague Street. |
CCTV footage from 0210 GMT showed the cross had not yet been defaced. | CCTV footage from 0210 GMT showed the cross had not yet been defaced. |
Peter Bottomley, MP for Worthing West, said: "People in Worthing will stand together, that is the ex-service community, Jews, Muslims, Christians and across the political spectrum, in rejection of this kind of offensive attitude and behaviour." | |
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