Forum Eerste Wereldoorlog

[Tandorini]

Fury as man kicks poppy wreaths off cenotaph then boots them around like a football while ranting "this is for the children"

A witness who pleaded with the man to stop says the vandal was ranting about ‘anti-war’ political views

Witnesses were left disgusted as a man kicked poppy wreaths off a city centre cenotaph as he ranted about his "anti-war" political views.

Footage showing the man kicking the wreaths around the memorial to fallen soldiers has sparked outrage online.

At one point the man shouted "this is for the children" before chasing a witness screaming "Tory scum", the Bristol Post reports.

In the video, the man lurches around the cenotaph in Bristol while clutching a mobile phone and shouting incoherently at times.

He kicks the wreaths from the base of the memorial until they almost reach the road, ignoring pleas to stop.

The disturbing incident happened at 6.30am on Sunday.

William Bates captured the footage as he passed through the city centre, and he urged the man to stop.

Mr Bates said: “I was walking through central Bristol at 6:30 this morning when I saw a man kicking wreaths at the cenotaph.

“I started filming him and he was ranting about his ‘anti-war’ political views as he vandalised the war memorial.

“He then started to move towards me so I stopped recording, and he then chased me while shouting about ‘Tory scum’.”

Mr Bates called the police and officers quickly arrived and took the man away.

The witness said he has been left feeling “disgusted” by the incident.

The cenotaph was inaccessible for more than a year due to MetroBus works in the city centre.

The memorial was finally reopened in time for Remembrance Day last year.

Mirror Online has attempted to contact Avon and Somerset Police for comment.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fury-man-kicks-poppy-wreaths-12085802