Remembrance poppy memorial thefts treated as sectarian hate crime

The war memorial in the Fountain estate in Londonderry

Police are treating the theft of a large poppy emblem and banners from a temporary war memorial in Londonderry as a sectarian hate crime.

The items, commemorating people from the area who died in World War One, were stolen over the weekend from the Fountain estate.

They had been erected in a field on the estate, alongside white crosses with the names of fallen soldiers whose names appear on the nearby War Memorial in the Diamond.

"Every time we try to express cultures, it's sort of destroyed or trampled upon," community worker Derek Moore said.

Derek Moore says items were stolen from the temporary memorial at the weekend to cause the maximum hurt

Of the 756 locals who died in the Great War of 1914-1918, 99 were from the Fountain area.

Events took place across Northern Ireland to mark Remembrance Sunday, which is observed on the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day on 11 November - when World War One ended in 1918.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

"On Sunday night, they removed one of the other banners and posed on social media with it," he told BBC News NI.

"It was actually the one that represents all the people in this city who had lost their lives [in World War One]."

The large poppy symbol and two banners commemorating locals who died in World War One were removed

"It's a sad reflection, it's just a continuation on the attacks on the Fountain over the last six or seven months," he said.

He said he hoped the stolen items would be returned and not end up being placed on future bonfires, which happened to other items stolen from loyalist areas earlier this year.

Items, including poppy wreaths, union flags and loyalist emblems were placed on bonfires in the Bogside and Creggan and burned.

Foyle SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said the vandalism "was designed to cause hurt to our neighbours," and those responsible "need to wise up".

"It is more than just a few crosses kicked over and a banner stolen, it has contributed to a feeling that people who share our city and belong in our community aren't wanted - that is desperately wrong," he said.

The DUP MLA Gary Middleton said the incident was "really disappointing" as the display was dedicated to local people of all religions who had died in World War One.

"Those individuals who came in and sort of kicked their way through those crosses to get to that banner have shown no respect," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has appealed to anyone with information to come forward.