Covid-19 memorial vandalised in second 'targeted attack'

The memorial was spraypainted with the word 'killers'.

A memorial dedicated to frontline workers who lost their lives during the pandemic has been vandalised for a second time.

The rainbow logo on a memorial bench was graffitied with the word ‘killers’ over the Easter Weekend.

The bench and design were part of a memorial erected in 2020 to honour frontline NHS nurses and doctors who worked tirelessly through the pandemic. Only last month, the nearby memorial plaque and oak tree were also smashed up by vandals.

Marc Hince, councillor for Shaw, said: “It’s absolutely appalling. This is clearly a targeted attack. Irrespective of feelings towards the pandemic and how it was dealt with, a great deal of people suffered.

"My local doctor sadly passed away during the pandemic and my wife was frontline NHS personnel. This bench is to commemorate their sacrifices. To brand them as ‘killers’ when everyone who worked on the frontline put themselves at risk for the public, is simply unacceptable.”

Shaw and Crompton Town Council say they are arranging for replacements for the plaque and tree and are currently establishing a reliable way to remove the graffiti from the bench. An image shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows the bench defaced with red paint.

The memorials were erected in November last year, when NHS nurses visited the site

At the time Rachel Diskin from Royal Oldham Hospital, who supported Covid patients throughout the pandemic, shared how difficult it was as a health professional during the pandemic.

Through the pandemic, we had days where at times we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but as a team we supported each other and got through it together,” she said. “There were extremely sad days, and despite being professionals, it was hard at times to maintain our emotions within the situation we were faced with.”