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Ballygawley bus bombing memorial vandalised

BBC Ballygawley memorialBBC
Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson, left, and Fermanagh and Omagh councillor Allan Rainey at the site of the damaged memorial

A memorial dedicated to eight soldiers killed by the Provisional IRA in County Tyrone in 1988 has been extensively damaged.

The monument, in memory of the soldiers who were killed by a roadside bomb in Ballygawley, was erected on the 30th anniversary of the massacre.

Police said the memorial at Curr Road was damaged overnight on Thursday.

The First Minister Arlene Foster condemned the vandalism via Twitter.

They have confirmed they are treating the incident as a sectarian hate crime.

Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson described the vandalism as "an act of ethnically motivated hatred".

Ballygawley bus bomb
Eight people were killed and 28 injured by the roadside bomb in 1988

The director of the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) said "to desecrate a space which seeks to respectfully remember the dead is beyond words".

Mr Donaldson condemned those responsible as having "no concept of respect or common decency".

"The community must cooperate in providing information which could lead to the successful prosecution of the individuals concerned," he said.

Ballygawley memorial
Police are treating the incident as a hate crime

In a tweet, Alliance councillor Stephen Donnelly condemned the actions of those who carried out the attack, saying it would cause further trauma to the relatives of the victims.

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DUP leader Arlene Foster also called on the public to help the PSNI identify the person responsible.

She said the vandalism was carried out by "a certain type of sick person".

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