People in Cockermouth have condemned the vandalism of a World War One memorial.

Vandals have ripped a metal plaque at the Crown Street poppy garden off its plinth.

The memorial garden was put in place by Cockermouth Rotary Club to honour those who died in the Great War.

The plaque, which had been specially designed and bore the arms of the Lancaster and Border regiments, was surrounded by wooden crosses and poppies bearing the names of men who had died.

One hundred and eleven crosses have been planted so far, a further 21 will be planted before November 11.

All of the crosses have been taken out by the Rotary club and will be replaced in the next few weeks, in time for Remembrance Sunday.

One of those honoured at the garden was Joseph William Kelly.

On hearing that the plaque had been stolen, his nephew Frank Kelly, 83, of Mosser Avenue, said: "It's disgraceful. These people can have no honour.

"To do that to something which honours people who have served and died giving us our freedom is unacceptable."

A total of 203 men from the Cockermouth area died in the war.

On the 100th anniversary of each death a Rotarian plants a cross in the flower bed at the junction of Gote Road and Crown Street. The cross bears the man’s name, date and place of death.

Last year, Mr Kelly contacted the Rotary to ask if he could plant the cross in memory of his uncle. Joseph served in the 5th Battalion of the Border Regiment and was fatally wounded on September 30, 1916, on the battlefields of Flanders. He was aged 20 or 21.

"I was proud to do that and thought it was great idea to have something like this in the town," said Mr Kelly.

Rotarian Brian Mitchelhill came up with the idea of the memorial garden. The town council agreed to lease the club the flower bed.

Mr Mitchellhill said: "This is sheer vandalism. This was an effort for the town to remember those that gave their lives - and it has been totally disrespected.

"The memorial garden stops people in their tracks and illustrates how many local people died. We have had a very good response to it."

The club will buy a new plaque and bolt it to the plinth.

Stephen Coates, acting chairman of the town's Royal British Legion branch, lives near the memorial garden.

"I'm disgusted. I cannot understand the mentality of people who would do such a thing," he said.

"People really appreciate something like this. I see many people, both visitors and locals, stopping to look at it."