THE gravestone of a local man has been damaged in what appears to be an act of vandalism.

The memorial stone, which is situated in Ardrossan cemetery, has been damaged by what the family of the man think is the work of vandals.

Although they wish to remain anonymous for fears of further damage, the man’s grandson told the Herald that they wanted to bring it to light in case there were other graves with the same issue.

He said: “It has upset my gran, my papa’s grave has been damaged and it might have happened to other families and they might not know.

“My mum visits about once a month and noticed that the picture on it had been chipped away at.”

A photograph of the damage has been shown to the Herald the photograph of the man is unrecognisable but his family are too upset for it to be printed.

The grandson added: “Was it random? Was it someone we know?

“It’s just such a horrible thing to do, to destroy the memory of someone.”

North Ayrshire Police Division confirmed they had received a report of vandalism at Sorbie Road, Ardrossan and that details had been passed to the Three Towns locality team for further enquiries.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “We were visited yesterday (27 February) and provided information to assist an individual who was looking to get a headstone repaired as it had become cracked.

“We are unsure how the damage to the headstone occurred but hope that the assistance we provided will help the family to restore the memorial to its original state.”