Rottingdean war memorial vandalised with graffiti tag

Villagers in Rottingdean woke on Saturday morning to find that their memorial, honouring the dozens of soldiers who fought and died in the World Wars, had been daubed with bright red paint.

The chairman of the local Royal British Legion has slammed the vandals for the damage  - and wasting the charity’s money as it has to pay for the memorial to be cleaned.

It comes amid warnings about increases in vandalism across the village.

Dave Bull QAM, 55, chairman of the Rottingdean Royal British Legion, said: “I run through here most mornings and I looked across and saw the gate was open.

“There’s a lot of people upset. It’s not a nice feeling and it’s not nice for veterans and their families in the village.

The vandalism on the commemorative stone (Image: Dave Bull)

“It’s quite a step too far, a lot of the veterans in the community are disgusted with the individuals responsible for this act.

“At the end of the day we are a charity and it’s a waste of money to have this professionally cleaned.

“I think people are worried about the general increase in vandalism across Rottingdean and Saltdean.”

Dave said that the tag, the initials “CA”, had been daubed on the memorial overnight on Saturday.

The bright red paint was scrawled on a special commemorative stone that the Royal British Legion had fundraised for to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The stone will now need to be removed and professionally cleaned by a stonemason as non-professionals cleaning it regularly could lead to the stone being permanently damaged.

Dave said the incident has been reported to the police.

There has been a spate of vandalism in the village which includes benches being smashed. Dave said incidents had been “on the increase in the last few years”.

The Conservative government previously called for tougher sentences for criminal damage to war memorials, including more time in prison.

Sussex Police were contacted for comment.