MP appeals for return of poppy wreaths stolen after Somme service

Four poppy wreaths stolen from a war memorial in Londonderry following a Somme remembrance service need to be returned, the city's MP has said.

Police are treating the incident as a sectarian-motivated hate crime and believe it took place between 21:45 and 22:10 BST on Wednesday evening in the Diamond area of the city.

Police said a male suspect was seen running towards Butcher Street after the theft.

"I would urge whoever did this to return the wreaths immediately, " SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said.

Eastwood said the theft is "disheartening" and has "caused great upset to members of our community".

"Respect costs nothing and our city has always led the way when it comes to accommodating different traditions and showing that we can live together peacefully," he said.

He also appealed for young people not to "caught up in tit-for-tat sectarian or anti-social behaviour" over the summer months.

Earlier Foyle DUP MLA Julie Middleton condemned the theft, describing it as "a disgraceful act of disrespect" following what she said was a dignified and respectful service to remember those who died on the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

In a statement, Middleton said it was "deeply disappointing, although sadly not surprising".

"Those wreaths were placed in memory of men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

"To target a war memorial in this way is an act of contempt, not simply towards the organisations that laid the wreaths, but towards the memory of those who gave their lives."

Middleton also referred to reports that images of the stolen wreaths had been shared on social media.

"If these reports are accurate, it only serves to compound the hurt caused to veterans, serving personnel, their families and the wider community," she said.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

Ulster Unionist councillor Darren Guy attended the remembrance service on Wednesday evening.

He said within hours of it ending a photograph of the stolen wreaths appeared on social media.

"Even during the Troubles, wreaths stayed there for three to four days and then they were removed," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"I think things have got worse, sectarianism amongst young people is at an all-time high at the minute. It's at an absolute disgrace… on both sides of the community."

Those responsible, Guy said, "don't understand the act of remembrance".

In a statement, the Royal British Legion said they were saddened to hear about the theft.

"These wreaths were laid to honour the memory of those who lost their lives in the Battle of the Somme, and we must never forget the extraordinary sacrifice of those who served in the First World War."

A number of commemoration events were held across France and the UK, including one at Belfast City Hall attended by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn.

The first day of the Battle of the Somme, in northern France, was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army and one of the most infamous days of the First World War.

On 1 July 1916, British forces suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 fatalities.

More than 2,000 men from the 36th Ulster Division died in the first few days of the battle, which would last 141 days.

Thousands of men from what is now the Republic of Ireland also fought for the British Army in the ranks of the 16th Irish Division, which lost about 1,200 men in a single action during the Somme in September.

There were 420,000 British casualties in the battle alone – the price paid for advancing the front line by just four and a half miles (7.2 km).