1 day Ago By [email protected] (Millie Bowles)
A daughter’s touching tribute to her father was targeted by vile graffiti which read: “Your dead dad won’t like litter.” The letter and flowers were left by 14-year-old Isabelle McGuire and her mum Ange Martin on Westcliffe Promenade in Ramsgate. They were tied to the metal fence in memory of former soldier Peter McGuire - Isabelle’s father and Ms Martin’s ex-husband.
He died six years ago while living in Scotland after he was hit by a car, aged just 35. But less than two weeks after leaving the tribute, Ms Martin was horrified to see the note and floral tribute had been taken. In their place, someone had heartlessly scrawled in red: “Have some respect.
“Your dead dad won’t like litter.” The shocked 39-year-old told KentOnline: “I felt sick. “Luckily, Issy was in school.
I'm just glad that she wasn't there to see it in person.” As well as sharing heartfelt memories, the letter included details of how Mr McGuire died. “She mentioned that he was in the army, how old he was, his name and that he's still loved and missed to this day,” the hairdresser explained.
“I don’t know what could possess someone to do this. “Other than someone's clearly very angry and not having a very good time in life, I really don't know. “Them saying that it was litter is probably what made me upset the most.
” The mum and daughter choose to remember her late dad at that spot, which overlooks the sea, as he used to live opposite. He died when Isabelle was just eight years old. Ms Martin recalled: “He adored Issy.
“When she was a baby and toddler, he was very hands-on with her. “They were always messing around and being silly.” She says Mr McGuire’s death came as a huge shock to the family.
“I remember I had to give it a couple of days to sort of get my head around it to try and explain to a then-eight-year-old what had happened,” said Ms Martin. “Since then, she’s just been dealing with it the best she can. “We’ve had a lot of support from a charity called Scotty's Little Soldiers, who help bereaved service children and their families.
” After posting about the upsetting ordeal on social media, Ms Martin and Isabelle have had offers of help from members of the community. A family friend quickly went to the seafront to remove the graffiti - so they decided not to report the incident to the police. Meanwhile, a local florist has offered to make a floral arrangement to hang at the site.
Ms Martin added: “Lots of people have said they want to take flowers there and make sure that he's remembered, for my daughter's sake more than anything. “People have been really, really kind, really supportive and respectful.” It is not the first time public tributes in Kent have been targeted by vandals.
In November, an elderly man cut down and binned hundreds of handmade poppies created to honour the fallen - because he “didn’t like the red weeds”. Police were contacted after the man was spotted targeting the Folkestone Poppy Project on The Leas..
