Narrow Water wreaths attacked for second time in a week

Poppy wreaths at Narrow Water in County Down have been damaged for the third time in three weeks.

They commemorate 18 soldiers who were killed in two IRA bomb attacks at the site near Warrenpoint in August 1979.

It is the second time this week that damage at the site has been reported to police.

Wreaths at the memorial were damaged previously in November 2017, July 2018 and in September 2018.

Police said they received a report at about 07:30 BST on Saturday that wreaths had been damaged and thrown onto the road.

It is believed the incident happened "sometime overnight".

On Thursday, poppy crosses, wreaths and floral tributes were destroyed at the memorial on the main Warrenpoint to Newry road.

Police said the attacks this week and last month are being "treated as hate crimes".

They have appealed to anyone who "may have captured dashcam or helmet cam footage" on the Warrenpoint Road to contact them.

The 1979 attacks at Narrow Water were carried out hours after the Queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was killed in an IRA bomb attack on his boat in County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland.