Do People Respect War Memorials ?
A World War Two veteran has this week slammed vandals who defaced and stole lettering from Croydon's war memorial just days before celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of VE Day.
Gaps in the lettering has left the memorial honouring Croydon's war dead looking tatty.
However the council said it may still be some weeks before it is able to replace the missing letters as it revealed plans to give the whole monument a cleanup.
Vandals are thought to have broken off and stolen an iron W from the lettering on the Katharine Street war memorial just before the 8th May 60th anniversary of VE Day. Days later an 'N' fell off as the monument was being inspected.
Stephen Thurlow, president of the Croydon branches of the Royal British Legion, criticised the vandals for their lack of respect for the borough's war dead.
The 84 year old, of Violet Lane, Croydon, said: "What I gave seven and a half years of my life for, I shall never know.
"It's disgraceful. This would have never happened a few years ago. That's just the way this country is now. People don't respect what our generation did for this country and just how many died.
"I think they broke the mould after our generation people just aren't the same anymore. I just hope it is restored as soon as possible."
Councillor Karen Jewitt said: "It beggars belief that vandals would deface such an important monument, particularly when we are commemorating such an important anniversary, 60 years since the end of the Second World War.
"We originally thought that the second letter had been taken as well but have since learned that it was accidentally knocked off during inspection. It is taking a bit of time because the lettering has to be in keeping with the monument and we are also using some lottery funding to clean the memorial up."
Although upkeep of the monument primarily lies with Croydon Council, English Heritage is being asked to advise on the new lettering and cleanup operation because the memorial is attached to the Town Hall, a listed building.
The council said the work would be completed before the end of the summer.