Waste left tied to a war memorial is as offensive as “dropping litter on a grave” according to a former serviceman.

Bryn Davies, chairman of Halkyn Royal British Legion, slammed the people responsible after he discovered bags of waste discarded at the base of the war memorial in Rhosesmor.

Mr Davies, who spent 25 years serving with the armed forces and has organised the Poppy Appeal in Halkyn for nearly 20 years, was horrified by the discovery and shared his pictures with the Leader.

He said: “After I came back from the Leader office, I’d actually found even more.

“Up and down the country, I’ve seen a few war memorial defaced and this just shows an extreme lack of respect for those who were killed in action and their families who went through such a bad time.” 

According to Flintshire War Memorials, there are five names of soldiers who served in the First World War listed with their regiments and the names of their homes on the memorial, which stands set on its own ‘island’ in the road in front of St Paul’s Parish Church.

There is one named Royal Navy serviceman from the Second World War.

The memorial also bares an inscription in Welsh that reads: “Cof Ardal Caerfallwch Am Ei Mhebion Dewr Gwympasant Yn yRhfel Mawr 1914-1918.” 

It translates as: “Remember the brave sons of the parish of Caerfallwch who fell in the Great War.” 

Beneath a window on the outside of the church is another memorial which was erected in 1924.

This one contains nine names from the First World War. It is understood by researchers that the four extra names were soldiers who died after the war or after they had been discharged for being medically unfit.

Mr Davies, who served in the Royal Artillery in 1961 until transferring to the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1964, said he couldn’t comprehend why people were leaving their waste at the memorial.

“I don’t think they’re thinking properly, maybe they didn’t mean to do it,” he said.

“Leave it outside your house, don’t come and tie it to a war memorial.

“It’s high time this was stopped, they should have more sense.

“It’s like going into a cemetery and dropping litter on a grave, it’s quite wrong.

“Why don’t they think?”