Llanerch Colliery disaster memorial vandalised
Carol WatkinsA memorial to a mining disaster which killed 176 men and boys has been damaged after being shot with pellets.
The vandalism of the oak carving, commemorating the Llanerch Colliery disaster in 1890, in Torfaen, was discovered last week.
Children as young as 12 were lost in the mine following the explosion.
The secretary of the Friends of Llanerch Memorial Fund, Carol Watkins, said she was "shocked, upset and annoyed".
Ms Watkins said she discovered the vandalism last week on a walk to the remote site near Abersychan.
In 2015, the Friends of Llanerch Memorial Fund began a collection which raised £16,000 for the memorial, which was unveiled in 2019.
At the centre is a sculpture by artist Chris Wood, from Ponthir, which features a carving of a miner cradling a 13-year-old boy.
"It depicts the last little boy pulled out of the pit, he had been buried in a roof fall," said Ms Watkins.
She added they had previously thought the chances of deliberate damage of the memorial were quite low.
Carol Watkins"It's lovely countryside, and we thought it's out of the way location would have protected it," she said.
"They've taken the ear of the miner, knocked it off with something, and you can still see the pellets embedded in the oak below the surface.
"It's going to be difficult to repair, we've contacted the sculptor and he's very busy at the moment, but we hope he can come in October."
Ms Watkins said creating a lasting memorial to the disaster had been something of a personal mission with previous attempts to create a commemorative work at the colliery site coming to nothing.