OUTRAGED villagers have branded a group of youths disrespectful after they defaced a cemetery in a graffiti blitz.

OUTRAGED villagers have branded a group of youths disrespectful after they defaced a cemetery in a graffiti blitz.

Sheila Penton, clerk to Hail Weston Parish Council, said the vandalism at the village’s yet-to-open cemetery, which adjoins the church, was ‘shocking’.

She told The Hunts Post: “There are no words to describe these people. They are despicable.”

The graffiti include a series of green tags and markings on the cemetery roadway.

On the oak gates, which cost �2,000, the vandals have sprayed the words ‘Maggie done me wrong’.

Also targeted and defaced on the same night was a wheelie bin, a van and a number of road signs in the village.

The vandals struck overnight on Saturday, July 10, leaving the parish council with a clean-up bill expected to cost hundreds of pounds.

Cambridgeshire police are investigating the criminal damage and officers have conducted house-to-house enquires.

Councillor Barry Easom, vice-chairman of the council, said the council had been working hard to get the new cemetery ready for when the current one is full.

He said: “We were proud of the new cemetery, which is due to open in the coming months.

“We invested in good quality gates and we are all really disappointed and saddened by what has happened.

“This was a mindless act of vandalism by a group of disrespectful people. The sheer disrespect these people have shown is mind-blowing.

“It’s a shameful act and the culprits should hang their hands in shame.

“Hail Weston is a good community where people have respect for their surroundings, and this vandalism has shocked us all.”

INFORMATION: Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to contact police on 0345 4564564 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.