³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Republican graffiti painted on a wall close to a Troubles' memorial in Enniskillen is being treated as a hate crime by police.

The letters 'IRA' were painted on a wall of the Clinton Centre.

The centre was built on the site of an IRA bomb attack in the County Fermanagh town.

Twelve people were killed after a bomb exploded at the town's cenotaph on 8 November 1987, during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony.

Eleven of those died in the blast. A twelfth victim, Ronnie Hill, slipped in to a coma two days afterwards and died 13 years later.

A memorial to the victims is located on an adjoining wall of the Clinton Centre.

Kenny Donaldson, of the South East Fermanagh Foundation - which supports many of the Enniskillen bereaved and injured - said the graffiti was deplorable.

"This is a deplorable action by those intent on inflicting further pain and anguish upon those already so grievously wronged," he said.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA, Deborah Erskine, described the graffiti as a despicable act.

"Those responsible should be ashamed for trying to whip up public tensions," she added.

Her party colleague, Enniskillen councillor Keith Elliott, said causing hurt to the people of Enniskillen was shameful.

Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew said monuments and memorials are important places in communities, adding that they should always be respected.

"I condemn the painting of this graffiti at the side of a memorial. There is no place for it," she said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it was investigating a report of criminal damage caused to a building in Belmore Street.

"Enquiries into the incident, which is being treated as a hate crime, are ongoing," it added in a statement.