Yobs have caused thousands of pounds of damage to a 12th century church.

The boys, thought to be as young as 11 or 12, were caught on camera throwing rocks at St Helen's Church in Cliffe.

The youngsters outside the church

Around seven stained glass windows have been smashed which will cost thousands of pounds to repair. The group also ripped off tiles from the roof of the boiler room and smashed up items taken from graves.

Charnel House, a small Victorian listed building in the corner of the churchyard, was also targeted.

The six boys were captured on video throwing missiles at the church windows. Two of the boys had their faces covered.

One boy is seen on a low roof picking things up and throwing them at a window. The other boys are seen throwing stones from the ground below.

After several minutes the group runs away, but not before one shirtless boy stops to pick up another stone and hurl it at a window.

Church warden Rob Thompson said: "There is quite a lot of damage.

"It might not look like a lot but about seven windows, some of them are original 12th century windows, have got holes in them where they have thrown stones.

"Tiles have also been ripped off the boiler room and the Canal House, which is a listed building.

"There also broke pots and other items from the graves.

"A neighbour took a video of them, they look around 11 or 12. They are little terrors with no respect."

Associate Minister Rev Jill Wright said: "It is tragic when children in a village do something like this to the village church.

"They have no respect for a building that has been there for such a long time.

"And these things take so long to fix. I also work at St James' Church in Grain and we had vandalism there in November last year, we only just managed to get it sorted before Easter."

Mr Thompson added: "The tiles and the windows are going to cost an awful lot of money to repair, it is not going to be cheap.

"It is too early yet to say how much the total cost will be. Will will need to get the experts in to assess the damage.

"There are seven windows damaged and some have more than one hole. Stained glass is very expensive.

"The roof tiles to the boiler house will need to be repaired as soon as possible to stop the rain getting in."

The vandalism took place at around 5pm on Sunday and has been reported to the police.

A spokesman for the force confirmed officers are investigating criminal damage.

He said: "It is reported that tiles were taken from the roof and items removed from graves which were used to break windows."

If anyone witnessed the incident or has any information that may help police please call 01634 792209 quoting 46/73507/22.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or by using the online form on its website.