The grave of republican hunger striker and former TD Kieran Doherty has been daubed with paint by vandals in west Belfast.
Kieran Doherty's plot was among at least 12 headstones desecrated at Milltown Cemetery's republican plot.
A memorial at the Falls Road site was covered in yellow paint, and the burial site of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in March 1988 was also damaged.
Among those whose graves were vandalised were Mairéad Farrell (31), Seán Savage (23), and Daniel McCann (30), shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar. They have become republican icons and fuelled a campaign against an alleged security force shoot-to-kill campaign.
Mr Doherty (25) died in the Maze prison, known to republicans as Long Kesh, on August 2nd, 1981. He lasted 73 days on hunger strike, the longest of the 1981 hunger strikers.
He was campaigning for five demands on political status, including the right to free association with other prisoners and not to do prison work or wear a uniform. While on protest, he was elected anti-H-Block TD for Cavan-Monaghan.
PA