Bloody Sunday memorial damaged

A Bloody Sunday memorial in Derry has been vandalised

A Bloody Sunday memorial in Derry has been vandalised. The top of the sculpture at the Gasyard in the Bogside was knocked off over the weekend.

Last week, Lord Mark Saville published a report which found the 14 people shot dead by Paratroopers in 1972 innocent.

Brian McGee, who helped create the art work, said it was a mystery why it was vandalised.

"The top of the sculpture is completed broken, the top four courses of it have been knocked off," he said.

SDLP MLA Pat Bradley condemned those responsible for the damage.

"This is in the heart of the Bogside and I don't know if it was someone with a few drinks in them but it would appear the damage was caused by people from the area so people will be outraged," he said.

"It is very insensitive to the families at this time."

Paratroopers from the battalion involved in Bloody Sunday have claimed the Saville inquiry was "fundamentally flawed".

In an open letter handed to the Daily Telegraph  on behalf of 35 members of 1st Bn The Parachute Regiment said: "We believe the inquiry as convened was fundamentally flawed and its conclusions based upon a subjective interpretation of only some of the evidence adduced before it."

The letter also attacked Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, saying: "A more untruthful and unreliable witness would be hard to find."

PA