AN IRVINE historian has raised fears that cultish rituals targeting Christian crosses are behind the latest spate of vandalism at Old Parish Church.

Vandalism in the Irvine churchyard has been an ongoing problem for years now, but recently it appears that stones with religious symbols - particularly Celtic crosses - are being targeted.

Those who take an interest in the graveyard’s upkeep have noticed time and again that Celtic crosses are being deliberately smashed and, in recent months, whenever the damage is fixed they are almost immediately smashed again.

Now local historian Billy Kerr has suggested there may be more than mindless vandalism to blame, raising fears there is a sinister agenda at the root of the damage.

He told the Times: “Vandalism in church graveyards and cemeteries throughout Britain is almost commonplace today. In Plashet Cemetery, east London, several years ago 380 headstones were upturned and damaged in a wrecking spree, which was the biggest desecration of Jewish graves seen in Britain.

“More recently in the Welsh cemetery of Newport numerous Muslim gravestones were defaced with swastikas being daubed on them and in Belfast City Cemetery last month thirty gravestones were smashed to pieces creating a scene of total devastation.

“The motives for this deliberate, malicious damage of burial sites can be racial and religious hatred. Another reason is the ‘typical vandal’ who according to a recent study is a 14 to 19 year old male, who along with his drunken pals vents his energy, morbid curiosity or emotional problems out on the stones.

“Some psychologists even think that some teenagers deface gravestones due to a ‘Death Denial’ complex because they don’t want to believe that they will die some day. “However, another more sinister reason for ritual desecration of tombstones is cultic practices which specifically focus on the breaking of Christian crosses. Can this be the cause of the recent spate of Christian crosses being systematically destroyed in our Old Parish graveyard?” Anyone with information on vandalism in Irvine should contact the police by calling the non-emergency number 101.