VANDALS have torched a memorial bench at the new Yorkshire Armed Forces Sculpture Trail at Ferniehurst Dell, Baildon.

Opened in June, the trail features many sculptures by different local artists and aims to provoke thought and reflection on different issues to do with war.

But thugs have set fire to part of a huge bench at the Cliffe Lane West which bears the phrases: Selfless Commitment, Respect for Others, Loyalty, Integrity, Discipline, Courage and Total Professionalism.

The trail was the brainchild of Baildon town councillor Ian Lyons, a former sergeant in the Royal Corps of Signals who left the Army after a parachuting accident in 2009.

Its total cost was some £140,000 including £75,000 grant from the Ministry of Defence, as well as sponsorship from various other sources, including Titus Salt School, Baildon Town Council, Baildon Mechanics Institute and Bradford Council.

And last night Friends of Ferniehurst Dell secretary Rob Higgie condemned those responsible for the desecration.

"Apart from the money, thousands of hours of voluntary hard work by community groups and schoolchildren have gone into making the Trail a success and now some little toe-rags have done this," Mr Higgie said yesterday.

He found the bench on fire while walking his dog a few days ago and told how the damage had been done.

"There was a communal fire pit in front of the bench which has been well-used over the summer and stopped the craze for wild fires in the Dell.

But a big burning branch had been dragged from it and deliberately put on the side of the bench.

"It's wanton vandalism and could have sparked a full scale woodland fire if the embers had blown into the trees. We could have lost the Dell all together.

"This is now an important place for people and was deliberately opened on Armed Forces Day, which was also the 100th anniversary of the shooting of Franz Ferdinand which started the First World War."

"Now we will have to spend money on restoring the bench and sorting out the fire pit - which is also damaged - rather than on funding other projects."

Councillor Val Townend (Con, Baildon) joined in the condemnation of those responsible.

"It's absolutely disgusting given all the public money that's been put into this project and people should have more respect during the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War," Cllr Townend said.

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