THE Royal British Legion says it is “shocked and saddened” after vandals defaced a war memorial.

Part of the memorial in the Old Steine, Brighton, was painted red and the word Palestine appears to have been partially chipped away, pictured above.

The memorial is dedicated to the service men and woman of Brighton who gave their lives in the two world wars and features the theatres of war where they died.

A spokesman for The Royal British Legion said: “We are shocked and saddened to hear of this incident.

“War memorials and graves honour the memory of our Armed Forces and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.”

The Brighton War Memorial was added to the National Heritage List for England in 1999 as a Grade II structure.

Sussex Police said: “We were informed by the city council that they had been informed on August 17 that red paint had been put on the memorial in Old Steine, Brighton, and part of the surface stonework had been damaged. The date of the incident is not known.”