AN Enfield MP has criticised vandals who sprayed graffiti on a war monument in Enfield Town.

Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes said the graffiti sprayed on the Chase Green stone statue in the early hours of yesterday morning was “a complete disgrace”.

The memorial to Enfield's servicemen and women who fought and died for their country has already been scrubbed clean of the graffiti by council workers ahead of remembrance services this week.

Mr Burrowes said: “It shows a complete lack of regard and respect in this week of all weeks, when we're remembering those men and women who have died to protect the values that these vandals desecrate and denigrate.

“Once they're caught, the courts need to come down heavily on them and make them realise it's not just any graffiti – it's an attack on us all.

“In a week when we're remembering the bravest of the brave, these people are the meanest of the mean in the actions.”

The MP has led a War Memorial Watch campaign to increase the sentences of those caught vandalising the monuments, after the memorial in Palmers Green's Broomfield Park was stripped of its bronze plaques by thieves in 2009.

Enfield Council spent £90,000 replacing the plaques with black granite last year.

Enfield North MP Nick de Bois said he supported Mr Burrowes' campaign and said the punishment must fit the crime.

He added: “To deface a war memorial is a crime of such gravity – for it to come during Remembrance Week is beyond words.

“People in Enfield are immensely proud of our armed forces, and the remembrance services in Enfield always reflect the deep respect we all have for the sacrifices made on our behalf. Nothing will change that.”