CHURCHYARD signs calling on dog owners to behave responsibly have been destroyed by vandals.

Dog owners who refuse to clean up after their pets, are being blamed for the damage at St Margaret's Church, Brotton, east Cleveland.

In the past few months, windows at the church have also been smashed by vandals.

The warning signs were put up around the churchyard last year after parishioners became sick of dog fouling, but they have been smashed on several occasions.

The Reverend Bruce Harrison, rector of St Margaret's, said more than £4,000 had been spent getting the church into order.

He said: "I have no idea why it keeps happening, but I think it is because people are used to using the old churchyard to walk through, and now these signs have gone up and they are not very happy about it.

"We are trying to get the community to be a community, and we are always going to get people who don't like change."