Vandalism at Hillsborough memorial
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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.