Vandalised Elgin war memorial sculpture removed

The sculpture was repaired after it was damaged in the first incident

A piece of artwork installed at a war memorial in Elgin has been removed after being vandalised twice within two weeks.

The metal silhouette of a soldier at the New Elgin memorial was bent out of shape.

Moray Council has removed the sculpture and reported the vandalism to Police Scotland.

The local authority hopes to have the artwork repaired in time for the town's Remembrance events in November.

The council said it would be harder to fix the sculpture a second time

Leader of Moray Council, Graham Leadbitter, described the vandalism as "mindless" and said the damage in the second incident would be harder to repair.

He said: "I would urge anyone who has seen anything concerning in the area to report it to Police Scotland.

"I sincerely hope that those responsible are caught and perhaps the biggest impact on them would be an education on the horror of war - what it meant being a soldier in the first and second world wars and the impact that the loss of so many, mostly young men, had on communities the length and breadth of Moray and across the whole country."