MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By ANGELLA JOHNSON AND POLLY DUNBAR – “A memorial garden for British troops killed in Afghanistan has been desecrated by vandals who struck at a military chapel in Essex.

A plaque in honour of seven soldiers who lost their lives in 2007 was smashed to pieces and a wooden cross destroyed.

News of the attack comes after The Mail on Sunday last week revealed how an armed mob in Libya had filmed themselves desecrating the war graves of more than 150 British servicemen at Benghazi.

The latest outrage happened in the memorial garden in the grounds of the chapel of The Royal Anglian Regiment in Warley, Brentwood.

The garden was built in honour of nine soldiers from the regiment who died during the same tour five years ago. Lance Corporal Darren George, a member of the regiment who was 22 when he became the first British casualty of the Afghan war in April 2002, has a plaque devoted to him inside the chapel.

Last night, his widow Sarah condemned the vandalism, which left pieces of the memorial scattered across the ground along with flowers from a wreath.

‘I couldn’t believe it when I heard,’ she said. ‘It’s disgusting that anybody would do something as nasty as that. I hope the police find whoever did it. The timing was just so callous.’

Essex Police last night confirmed that they were aware of the damage. Retired Royal Anglian Major Tony Jones, 59, who oversees the chapel, said: ‘The damage was mindless thuggery, as far as I can see. They snapped the plaque in half. I feel sad about it.

‘We have never had problems before but it is the only memorial site we have out in the open. We will be replacing it – some local people have already offered to pay for it.’” Read more.