THOUGHTLESS thugs in Peebles have defaced a memorial to a war hero with a Nazi swastika.

And the yobs also scrolled sickening genitalia onto the plaque which honours Marine Alec Lucas.

The memorial, which is placed on the back of the Alec Lucas Memorial Stand at Whitestone Park, was only unveiled three years ago.

It pays tribute to the popular 24-year-old from Peebles who lost his life during combat in Afghanistan.

Every year since his death friends and family of Alec have helped raise more than £100,000 for local football causes as well as military charities.

This latest attack comes on the back of several other vandalism incidents in and around Peebles over the summer.

And it isn't the first time the stand at Whitestone Park has been damaged recently - in 2015, Scottish Borders Council forked out on a £500 repair bill attempts had been to set it on fire.

Local football coach, Ger Rossi, who frequently uses the Whitestone Park ground as both a player and as a coaching of young children, is sickened by this latest attack.

He said: “It’s now getting to a stage where I’m not remotely surprised by the behaviour at that stand.

“Obviously the club are happy to let teenagers use it, as long as they don’t abuse it.

"It’s now getting to a stage where it’s beyond a joke.

“From my perspective, it’s very poor. We’ve tried to engage with the people who are doing this but they just won’t listen."

Peebles isn't the only town to be hit by a recent wave of vandal attacks around football grounds.

In Innerleithen Vale of Leithen’s Victoria Park ground is regularly targeted with repair bills often running into the hundreds of pounds.

Officials are now pricing the installation of CCTV.

And football chiefs in West Linton are also installing cameras at the recently-opened Hotspur ground following damage.

Mr Rossi hopes parents of the vandals can help bring the destruction to an end.

He added: "I think the issue lies with the parents; more has to be done to stop stuff like this from happening.

"They need to be taught respect which they clearly lack.

“It’s obviously a problem that needs to be addressed, but what can we do? You could argue that you need a bigger police presence in the town.”