A MEMORIAL to the Queen Mother has been vandalised after only three weeks.

The armillary sphere - an elaborate sundial - was bought by the Friends of the Bowes Museum and installed in the grounds in May as a tribute to Her Majesty, who was their patron for 40 years until her death in 2002.

But less than a month after its installation, the joint between its stone plinth and mounting block has been dislodged in an incident of disorder, which is being investigated by Barnard Castle police.

Acting Insp Bill Dutton told the D&S Times that there was a record of some youths in the museum park before the damage was caused, which had occurred between 5pm on Saturday and 8am on Sunday.

Chairman of the Friends, Fiona Turnbull, said they were extremely disappointed and had had to take it inside for storage and inspection.

"It's such a lovely new feature," she added. "While there is no physical damage to the sphere itself, someone has obviously tried to push it over because the fitting to the stone plinth is wobbly."

Mrs Turnbull said the fact that it had happened when there was increased security at the museum for the Raphael exhibition was a major worry, especially when it was planned to increase the use of the park.

No decision has yet been made as to the future of the sphere, with Mrs Turnbull saying it was still under discussion.

"We certainly hope to re-erect it when security has been reviewed," she added.

The museum's director, Adrian Jenkins, said: "We are making great strides with the building, but to develop the park we must be confident that any additions will be looked after. We will have to proceed with caution."