Half of vandals and thieves who targeted West Midlands war memorials not caught

More than half of the vandals and thieves who have targeted war memorials in the region over the last three years have not been caught, the latest police figures reveal.

West Midlands Police say they have 10 offences involving damage to memorial sites down on record since 2011.

The cases range from people who have either stolen from, set fire to or vandalised a war memorial in the region.

The Boer War Memorial, in Dudley Cemetery, without the bronze rifle.

Only four instances recorded by officers over this period of time have been described as being 'detected'.

Chairman of the Gornal Royal British Legion, Councillor Ken Finch, said: "It is nothing but disgusting.

"In my opinion anyone found doing something like this should be punished to the highest degree.

"They are damaging sites built in memory of people who died so they could live a free life.

"It shows absolutely no respect and you have to wonder if they have a brain at all."

Vandals who scrawled graffiti over the steps leading to the cenotaph in Wolverhampton City centre's St Peter's Church just days before First World War memorial ceremonies took place earlier this year were caught, as were the thieves who stole a bronze plaque from the war memorial at St Augustine's Church in Dudley not long after.

Also found were those responsible for taking bronze from a statue at a South African War Memorial in Edgbaston.

The Boer War Memorial, in Dudley Cemetery, off Stourbridge Road, Dudley, where thieves have recenty stolen the bronze rifle from the memorial.

But nearly every crime recorded before 2013 has so far been left unresolved.

The oldest concluded incident was the case of vandals who threw wooden crosses to the floor and pulled poppies from a wreath at a memorial in Kings Heath Birmingham in 2013.

Superintendent Mike O'Hara at Wolverhampton Police said: "We take crimes committed at war memorial sites very seriously especially now with the centenary of the First World War making it a particularly sensitive subject.

"Thefts and criminal damage of this type are callous and disrespectful and we will aim to prosecute those responsible wherever possible.

"We would urge anyone to report such incidents to police immediately."

Cases left undetected include an arson attack on St John's Preservation Ground in Dudley last year, where a poppy wreath was set alight.

Graffiti on the top step down to the Cenotaph outside St Peter's Church in Wolverhampton.

Offenders who stole a bronze rifle from a memorial at Dudley, have not been found.

Thieves who stole two plaques from Willenhall Memorial Park in 2011 have still not been caught, nor have the culprits who took a bronze rifle from a statue at Thimblemill Recreation and Entertainment Centre, Smethwick, the same year.