A TOWN'S First World War commemoration is believed to have been vandalised just days after it was installed.

The Silent Soldier was put in place on the site of Buckley's old Royal British Legion site on Friday.

Despite still being in place when a piece of memorial artwork was re-opened at the site the following day, it was found to have been 'uprooted' and thrown in nearby bushes on Sunday.

Deputy mayor Cllr Arnold Woolley found the soldier, part of which had been bent.

A spokesman for the town council told the Leader the incident is believed to have been vandalism as there was no wind to have blown the silhouette away and it had been firmly installed in the ground.

Cllr Woolley, who is also a member of the Royal British Legion, said: "It is sad - we are asking people to remember. I would have thought a bit of respect would go with that.

"It was very firmly planted in the ground. Obviously someone bothered to go in there and uproot it.

"Whoever left it in the bushes had no respect for the war dead of this town.

"We have 114 brave people who left Buckley to fight in the First World War and didn't come back.

"Many came back scarred, mentally and physically.

"For someone to demean all of these people, I hope the town comes together to say this is not our kind of behaviour."

The soldier has now been affixed to the railings around the town clock balcony in Mold Road, together with a flag in remembrance of the fallen in the First World War.

The incident has not been reported to the police and the soldier's rifle has been bent back to its original shape.

Silent Soldiers have been installed all around the country as part of a British Legion campaign to mark 100 years since the ending of the First World War.

Buckley Town Council has stated both the Silent Soldier and the flag will remain in place until after the Royal British Legion Remembrance Day Parade on November 11.