A SERIES of sinister graffiti images, apparently referring to a sex attack, have caused alarm in a Kent village.

Speculation has mounted in Halling, near Rochester, since the pictures were discovered on walls along the Camway footpath – the same alleyway where a 24-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at the beginning of October .

Two of the black-and-white images, which have appeared in the weeks since the attack, depict a woman lying prone, with a shadowy figure standing above her, carrying a gun.

Another shows a naked woman and a fourth shows what could either be interpreted as a devilish face or a seated naked woman.

Friends Joseph Kennard, 15, Keith Blackman, 17, and Karl Gearing, 17, were among the first to discover the disturbing images while walking along the Camway, between Vicarage Close and Cemetery Road.

Joseph, from Halling, said: “The pictures seem related to the attack – maybe it’s the person who did it. They form a triangle around where it happened.”

Karl, from Larkfield, said: “The pictures weren’t there before the girl was attacked – they started appearing about five or six days later.”

And the trio said the images had begun playing on the minds of many villagers.

Keith, from Halling, added: “A lot of people won’t go around outside any more, they’re too scared. People are going around in groups. I used to walk that way on my own, but not now.”

Another resident, Laura Kennard, 19, said: “The pictures are sick. I used to take flowers to my grandfather’s grave in Cemetery Road – now I won’t go there because I’m too scared.”

The police investigation into the sexual attack has been put on hold.