THE grandson of a First World War veteran whose name was proudly displayed on the Darnhall Village Hall memorial plaque before it was vandalised recently, has expressed his feelings through a sketch.

Richard Kaye, from Middlewich, was shocked when he saw the Guardian’s front page story and pictures last month.

Darnhall Village Hall had been broken into on Monday, August 7, and severely vandalised.

Spray-painting the words ‘unlucky WYF’ (WYF is believed to be the ‘tag’ of a gang going by the name of Wharton Youth Firm), the vandals ransacked the hall and broke everything in sight.

But the most shocking of all to Guardian readers, including Richard, was the disrespect shown to the war memorial plaque, on which the names of fallen soldiers from the area were painted over.

Richard’s grandad, who shared the same name, fought in the First World War between 1916 and 1918 as a gunner.

He survived the war and died in June 1957, just two months before his grandson was born.

As a semi-professional artist, Richard sketched the scene of the ransacked hall, as it appeared in the Guardian, but added in the soldiers.

He said: “The sketch was to convey that they’re not just names on a plaque – they’re human beings who we should have a great deal of respect for. They were living people, just like the people who have done this.”

Unlike a lot of people who reacted to reading about the vandalism online, Richard says he does not hold any ill-feelings towards the group of vandals.

He added: “I don’t think my grandad would have been upset by it – I just think he would have been upset for the lady who had to find it like that. I don’t judge the people who did it, and I don’t think he would have done. I don’t think they would have thought of the consequences.”