How could they do this to daddy's memorial?

The wooden plinth baring the name of popular Warren Melling had only been in place in Queen's Park, Blackburn, for two weeks before it was attacked by thugs at the weekend.

It was located close to a waterfall, near where his ashes were sprinkled, so his five-year-old daughter Ocean could visit it every day.

Warren, who was only 25 when he died, was a single parent and the pair used to play in the park near their home on Newton Street before his death on December 11.

His mother, Susan Bellusci, received special permission from Blackburn with Darwen Council's parks department to create a lasting memory for her son.

But she said Ocean were horrified when on Monday they discovered the memorial had been vandalised.

The vandals knocked lumps out of the wooden base and have hammered huge dints into the metal plaque, which features a tribute to Warren.

Susan, who now looks after her grandaughter, said: "We were heartbroken when we saw the damage. It has only been up for two weeks and it has already been damaged. It is particularly upsetting for Ocean.

"We went to a lot of trouble for that memorial and it was very special to us.

"Warren and Ocean spent many happy hours at the park. The plaque clearly states that he left a daughter. What kind of community do we live in when we allow some fools to vandalise a child's only place to remember her daddy?"

She said that the memorial, a plaque mounted on a wooden plinth, had been put in place because Ocean who had struggled to deal with the death of her father.

A police spokesman said the matter had been reported to them and the incident was being investigated.

Susan said that her son was a "happy go lucky" man who died after falling in with a bad crowd.

Mr Melling, a recovering drug addict, died as a result of heroin abuse just days before he was due to go into rehab.

At the time of his death he had made huge strides to overcome his addiction and was "doing fantastic," an inquest was told.