The recent vandalism attacks on republican graves in west Belfast and on a First World War memorial in the north of the city may well have had some form of twisted connection and there can be no doubt that they were equally reprehensible.
Graffiti was discovered on the plots in Milltown Cemetery on Monday while a stone column a relatively short distance away in Woodvale Park was also daubed with paint in the early hours of yesterday morning.
It is clear that both sets of perpetrators deliberately set out to cause offence and stir up sectarian tensions as we move towards a sensitive period of the year.
There can be no excuse for provocative behaviour of this kind, and it must be anticipated that in each case criminal prosecutions will follow swiftly.
