VANDALS have wrecked a garden of remembrance and its hand crafted memorials at a centre for adults with learning disabilities.

During the weekend the thugs climbed on to the flat roof of the Middlefield Day Centre in Hungerdown Lane, Chippenham, and smashed five skylights with a metal bar causing more than £450 of damage.

But it was the trail of destruction in the memorial garden which has most upset centre staff and the adults, aged between 19 and 70, who they care for.

The rose arbour and pergola in the gardens were destroyed, graffiti was scrawled on plastic poly tunnels, with the words slayer and lawnmover, and furniture donated by the loved ones of past users of the centre was extensively damaged.

But the most distressing damage was wrought on wooden memorials made by the adults in tribute to their friends who had used the centre.

The memorials, including a cricket bat, a drum and a butterfly, were specifically made to reflect the qualities and achievements of those who died.

Deputy manager Wendy Parks said: "They totally smashed them up. It's unbelievably cruel and absolutely mindless.

"The outdoor furniture can be replaced, but it's unlikely the memorials can ever be recreated."

The gardens were enjoyed by the present clients at the centre as well as the friends and families of those commemorated in the garden.

Mrs Parks said everyone was very shocked.

She said people attending the centre were struggling to come to terms with what had happened and not all of them could understand it.

"Two or three of them were able to articulate how they felt and they were angry as well as upset."

The centre has been caring for adults with learning disabilities for more than 25 years.

On Tuesday, when staff arrived at the centre for work, they were met with a scene of devastation, but it was too late to stop users arriving as normal. As far as possible staff tried to organise a normal day's activities.

Mrs Parks said: "We tried to keep them occupied without causing too much distress."

But cookery classes had to be cancelled because broken glass from the shattered skylights had covered many of the cooking utensils.

The centre has been targeted by vandals several times before but never on the scale of this attack.

In the past plastic poly tunnels protecting plants in the gardens have been slashed, but latest attack left the garden wrecked.

Mrs Parks said the former Allington School behind the centre had been a magnet for vandals, but it had been demolished last week. She thought the vandals had now turned their attention on the day centre.

Anyone who has any information about the damage at the centre, should contact PC Andy Henson on (01249) 654455.