Vandals who attacked a memorial to the Hillsborough
disaster behaved "absolutely disgracefully", the mother of a
teenager killed in the tragedy has said.
Police were called to the memorial garden in Port Sunlight,
Merseyside, early on Sunday morning after reports of youths causing
damage.
They arrived to find paving slabs lifted up and stone
balustrades knocked down and smashed.
Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the 1989
disaster, said: "It's very upsetting for something like this to
happen. That memorial's been there for about 18 years and it means
a lot to people."
She added: "It was put there out of care and affection for the
96 that died.
"Whoever did it, they're absolutely disgraceful to destroy a
thing like that and they ought to be ashamed of themselves."
Detective Inspector Andy O'Connor of Merseyside Police said:
"This is completely unacceptable behaviour, and something that we
will not tolerate. We have no idea what the motive is behind this
incident, but we will do all that we can to find the individuals
responsible.
"This is a despicable attack on a memorial, and the people who
carried out this attack have shown complete disrespect for those
who lost their lives and their families."
Liverpool fans who had travelled to Sheffield Wednesday's
Hillsborough stadium for the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham
Forest on April 15, 1989, were crushed to death at the Leppings
Lane end after the match kicked off.
The 20th anniversary of the tragedy was marked in April when
about 30,000 people attended a memorial service at Liverpool's
Anfield stadium.