An Army veteran has blasted vandals who have daubed graffiti over a war monument – just weeks before Remembrance Sunday.

Steve Craddock, a former Royal Engineers sergeant, has described the vandalism to the Chatham Naval Memorial at the Great Lines Heritage Park as "bang out of order".

The landmark statue, which was erected to commemorate the hundreds of sailors, airmen and marines who lost their lives in the First World war, has been defaced with crude wording.

A luminous paint has been sprayed on some of the names of those who fought and died for their country.

Mr Craddock, 64, who lives on St Mary's Island said: "Whoever did this is either stupid or poorly-educated. They don't care about the thousands who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.They only care about themselves."

"They don't realise about the hurt they have caused.

"If they get caught they should be punished and not just handed a £20 fine."

Since leaving the Armed Forces, Mr Craddock has spent the last 15 years raising an amazing £500,000 for Help for Heroes, becoming the charity's biggest individual fundraiser.

Cllr Vince Maple, who organises the Remembrance Day events in Chatham, was also outraged at the vandalism.

The leader of Medway Council's Labour group, said: "Whoever purposefully went to this destination, which you would not normally choose to do so, and defaced this memorial, which is so important to our community, is shameful."

"I hope the police find the perpetrators quickly and I thank the council for acting swiftly."

Cllr Pat Cooper, who took pictures of the graffiti and alerted Medway Council, said it was "absolutely despicable".

She said: "I was assured by the council's contractors that it would be cleaned as a priority."

The monument, which overlooks the Towns, is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It became a listed building in 1996, and was upgraded to Grade I in May 2016 for the centenary of the Battle of Jutland.

It featured in a number of scenes in the 1996 novel Last Orders by British author Graham Swift, as did the Medway Towns. The book was adapted into a film and directed by Australian director Fred Schepisi and starred Sir Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Sir Tom Courtenay and Helen Mirren.