I am chairman of the 'Friend's of Dennistoun war memorial' group. Our group raised almost £20,000 within our community to place a memorial remembering Dennistoun's fallen. The memorial now sits within the entrance of Dennistoun's Alexandra Park. Shortly before the unveiling of our memorial in September 2018 it was subject to a disgusting attack where it was set alight. This act devastated the entire community. What was once a crime that very rarely occurred is now becoming a regular occurrence in Scotland. From 2017 to 2020 there have been over 20 attacks on memorials the length and breadth of Scotland that I am aware of. These are listed below:
- Dennistoun war memorial Glasgow September 2018
- Polish war memorial Arbroath August 2018
- Angus war memorial November 2018
- Sanquhar war memorial March 2018
- Edinburgh garden of remembrance November 2018
- New Calton burial ground Edinburgh June 2017
- Tullibody war memorial November 2019
- Duchess of Hamilton park war memorial Motherwell June 2019
- Elgin war memorial October 2019 (twice)
- Aberdeen war memorial October 2019
- Robert the Bruce war memorial June 2020
- Helensburgh war memorial November 2019
- Cowdenbeath war memorial June 2018
- Alexandria war memorial May 2018
- Boer war memorial Glasgow February 2019
- Coatbridge war memorial November 2018
- Lerwick war memorial August 2019
- Govanhill holocaust memorial November 2019 (twice) and June 2020
- Penicuik war memorial November 2019
A war memorial is not a vehicle or a telephone box and vandalism to it should be a separate offence given what they mean to so many. Hundreds of thousands of Scots have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and I urge the Scottish Parliament to introduce legislation that further protects the memorials dedicated to them