24/07/2019

Police Label Attack On Garvagh War Memorial As Hate Crime

An Ulster Unionist Councillor has confirmed that police are treating an attack on a war memorial in County L'Derry as a hate crime.

A poppy wreath at the War Memorial on Garvagh's Main Street was destroyed overnight on Monday 22 July. Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.

Local Councillor Richard Holmes hit out at those responsible, branding it "deeply disturbing that some people get a kick out of deliberately causing offence to others".

Councillor Holmes added: "The desecration of a Poppy wreath laid by the Orange Order at the Garvagh War Memorial is another reminder that there is an element in our society determined to deny us the opportunity to live in peace.

"The PSNI have rightly labelled this incident a hate crime."

Criminality surrounding wreaths and war memorials persists throughout the region, with recent attacks at Narrow Water in County Down and Teebane, between Omagh and Cookstown.

Mr Holmes continued: "The poppy wreath that was the subject of the attack in Garvagh was laid by the Orange Order in memory of all the Fallen. The total lack of understanding and ignorance displayed so publicly by a small section of our community, that bullets on the battlefields of Europe and other theatres of war did not distinguish between any religions is hard to fathom."

Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in Garvagh on Monday evening is urged to contact police on 101, quoting reference 616 of 23/07/19.



(JG/CM)

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