VANDALS left a trail of destruction when they struck at Great Ayton Cemetery.

About 100 graves were damaged during the attack, which took place last Friday morning.

Howard Atkinson, the cemetery superintendent, found flowers, vases and memorials had been taken from the graves and strewn all over the area.

The graves in this part of the cemetery were mainly of those interred from the mid-Nineties onwards.

Mr Atkinson contacted Couns Margaret Stevens and June Imeson, who arrived with Stokesley police to survey the damage. All said they were disgusted and sickened by the vandalism.

Two teenagers also arrived - Robert Dee, 17, and David Harland, 16, who had arrived at the request of Robert's garndmother, Pat King, who had seen the morning activity in the cemetery.

The lads wanted to check whether their grandfathers' graves were unscathed. Sadly, these graves, belonging to village characters Malcolm King and Benny Dowson, were among those vandalised.

Also damaged was the grave of Wayne Dymond, who died six years ago at the age of 34.

Memories of him had been kept alive in various ways at his grave and at the time of the vandalism it was covered in flowers, wreaths and written tributes to mark what would have been his 40th birthday. There was also a silver birthday decoration, as would have been seen on a cake, and red and white carnations signifying his support for Middlesbrough FC.

Helped by Robert and David, Mr Atkinson defied atrocious weather to set about replacing the flowers and pots and bowls on the graves as much as possible, in order to minimise the distress to relatives.

Several containers were broken beyond repair and the parish council stepped in, saying it would pay for replacements.

In other cases, metal containers had been taken out of recesses in the headstones and deliberately stamped upon.

Stokesley police have conducted house-to-house inquiries at nearby properties, but no arrests have yet been made. They said that, following incidents earlier this year, when three headstones were broken and a further two pushed over, together with occasions when gangs of young people had reportedly congregated in the cemetery, they had kept special watch on the cemetery.

Sgt Sarah Sanderson said: "We were appalled and disgusted to learn of this case. It is even a step over the edge of anti-social behaviour.

"I will not tolerate such disorderly behaviour and will do everything I can to eliminate it.

"We shall continue to watch the cemetery closely. I ask anyone with any information to contact us on 01609 789521 or 08456060247."

l On Saturday, a tin containing poppy appeal money was broken into at the church and the cash stolen.