Vandals have attacked a memorial to Lord Bruce Lockhart.

The tree and bench in Parsonage Meadow in Headcorn, surrounded by a decorative fence, were erected in his memory by his grateful parishioners.

The memorial was damaged on Monday night at around 6.30pm.

“Sandy” as he was affectionately known died from cancer aged just 66 in August 2008.

He had lived with his wife Tess at their fruit farm on the edge of the village since the 1960s and had represented Maidstone Rural East on Kent County Council since 1989 after winning the support of voters by protesting against the proposed route of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

He went on to be elected the Conservative leader of KCC from 1997 until 2005.

He also served as chairman of the Local Government Association and of English Heritage.

Alexander Bruce Lockhart was knighted in 2002, and made a peer in 2007 when he was given the title of Baron Bruce Lockhart of The Weald.

Anyone with any information about the vandalism is asked to contact Kent Police by dialling 101, and quoting the crime reference CAD 01 - 0934.