Police are hunting vandals who scrawled a swastika on gravestones in a North Yorkshire cemetery.
As well as the Nazi symbol, the perpetrator scrawled ‘Z’ – the symbol on Russian weaponry used against Ukraine – and ‘IRA’ on the front and back of the gravestone in the cemetery on Kirkby Road in Ripon.
North Yorkshire Police are appealing for witnesses and information about who defaced the graves.
Police will also be increasing patrols around cemeteries in the Ripon area to prevent further incidents of this nature.
Inspector Alex Langley from the Ripon Neighbourhood Policing team said: “Members of the public are quite rightly shocked by these instances of vandalism. This is particularly upsetting for the large military community that we have in Ripon.
“Incidents of this nature will not be tolerated, and I would urge anyone who has any information to contact us.”
You can contact the police on the numbers below.
How to help the police
- Call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Katie Bell
- Email Katie Bell here
- Contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via the website
- Quote reference number 12220048095
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