Wiltshire Police have confirmed that officers investigating criminal damage
In the early hours of Saturday January 12, officers were out on patrol in the town centre when they came across approximately 50 poppy wreaths which had been thrown across the ground.
Enquiries were carried out by officers which included a thorough scope of town centre CCTV footage.
As a result of these enquiries a 54-year-old local man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The man has been taken to Gablecross custody for questioning and enquiries are continuing.
Inspector Rachel Hardy said:
“This incident has understandably caused a huge amount of upset to our local community and officers have been working tirelessly to identify the person
“Whilst we have made an arrest, we continue to appeal to anyone who may have information on this incident to call us on 101 and quote crime reference number 54190003682.”
A police spokesman said:
“This was a mindless act of vandalism and shows complete disregard for those servicemen and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice in service of this country.”
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said the vandalism was “a total disgrace”.
“I laid our Wiltshire Police wreath at this cenotaph on Sun 11th Nov 2018 alongside many war veterans to show respect to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to provide the freedoms we enjoy today,” he added.
Featured image credit: Wiltshire Police
If you have a story, video or one-off blog that you would like to share with us, then you can contact our team of former emergency services & armed forces personnel either through our Facebook page, via Twitter ( @ES_News_ ) or you can contact us via email: contact@emergency-services.news
If you run or manage a ‘job’ social media account and you would like us to share one of your stories then send us a tweet or a message!
If you would like to write an article that you would like us to share (it can be about anything to do with the emergency services / NHS) whether you serve in the emergency services / NHS or whether you are a member of the public that has had a good experience with the emergency services, then feel free to contact our team; anonymously if you prefer.
We are proud to act as a voice for the Emergency Services & Health Service, with over 500,000 people visiting our website each month.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
