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VILE bigots targeted a memorial to those who risked their lives in the fight against fascism with white power graffiti.
The racist louts daubed a Celtic Cross symbol – which is associated with the far-right – on a memorial in Motherwell’s Duchess of Hamilton Park, dedicated to 40 North Lanarkshire volunteers who joined the International Brigades to fight against General Franciso Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
READ MORE: ‘Anti-Israel’ graffiti found in school with high proportion of Jewish pupils
The memorial in Motherwell’s Duchess Park, dedicated to 40 North Lanarkshire volunteers who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War, has been defaced.
Going by the vandalism it looks like it could be fascists or daft young kids.
Any info would be welcome.
¡No Pasarán! pic.twitter.com/MojOs8hAvL
— Derek Watson (@derekwatson89) June 26, 2021
The vandals also wrote the word “vermin” at the foot of a memorial and the name Franco on two stones commemorating the volunteers.
Credit: Derek Watson
White power symbols were also sprayed on the ground and a nearby wall.
It comes just a few weeks before the community is to remember those who volunteered on the Republican side of the war between 1936 and 1939.
READ MORE: Fury as ‘rats’ and ‘scum of the earth’ scrawled on Motherwell war memorial
The area’s MSP, Clare Adamson, said she was “gutted” by the defacement of the memorial.
Gillian Mackay, a Green MSP for Central Scotland said: “This graffiti appearing weeks before annual commemorations is particularly callous. The right-wing nature of it is concerning. I’ll shortly be in touch with the committee at the park to see what support they need.”
READ MORE: The statue which remembers the Scottish volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War
North Lanarkshire Council tweeted about the incident, calling it an “appalling act of vandalism”.
Credit to a friend of mine who stopped by while out on a bike ride with his son this morning to give it a good clean. No Pasaran 🚩
🔴🟡🟣 https://t.co/ehbfFwx1Bl pic.twitter.com/EIENbC2CJk— Zeyn (@ZeynMo) June 26, 2021
A local father and son cleaned up the graffiti, reports the BBC.
Steven McGowan and his six-year-old boy travelled from Wishaw to take off the paint.
Credit: Derek Watson
Millions, including British author George Orwell, were inspired to join the efforts to defeat Franco in his ultimately successful fight to reinstate the Spanish monarchy and rule the country as a fascist dictator.
Historians estimate Franco’s regime to have resulted in the deaths of between 30,000 and 50,000 people, through his use of forced labour, concentration camps and executions.
A police spokesman said: “We received a report around 12 noon on Saturday, June 26, that a memorial in Duchess Park, Motherwell, had been vandalised. Enquiries are at an early stage.”
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