Thieves target Hearts' French war memorial

THIEVES have targeted a memorial to Hearts players and hundreds of Edinburgh football supporters killed on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

Flags and wreaths were stolen from the memorial in the French hamlet of Contalmaison, where they were placed a month ago.

Lord Provost Lesley Hinds and Margaret Curran MSP were among those who laid wreaths in a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the bloody battle.

The memorial to Edinburgh's football soldiers was unveiled in November 2004 in honour of 550 soldiers from the two battalions.

A total of 13 Hearts players had signed up to the 16th Royal Scots. Four - Duncan Currie, Harry Wattie, Jimmy Boyd and Ernest Ellis - died in the battle and around 500 Hearts supporters and 150 Hibs followers had also volunteered.

Jack Alexander, spokesman for McCrae's Battalion Trust which fought to get the memorial, said: "The mayor contacted me and told me. A saltire and a French tricouleur were taken. This kind of petty vandalism doesn't usually happen at the Somme."

Taken from the Scotsman