A hate poster targeting two of the most senior public figures in Angus has been found displayed in a park.
The banner, which contained photographs and text aimed at Angus Council leader Bob Myles and Provost Ruth Leslie Melville, was found at Edzell Muir car park in Edzell.
A member of the public reported the incident to the police after finding the poster lying beside a flag pole that had been chopped down. The damaged 25ft pole was a replacement for an identical pole that was previously vandalised at the Gannochy Road park.
A Union Flag had been flying at the top of the pole and it is thought the act may have been politically motivated. The attack marks the fourth time the village flagpoles have been damaged in three years.
Both Mr Myles and Mrs Melville, who are councillors for the Brechin and Edzell ward, refused to make any comment.
Police confirmed an investigation into the incident was ongoing and appealed for witnesses.
A spokesman said: ”Some time between 5pm on Monday November 7 and 7.15am on Tuesday November 8, one of the flag poles at Edzell Muir car park on Gannochy Road was cut down.
”The metal flag pole was around 25ft tall and a poster was found in the area. We would appeal to anybody who was in the area at the time and who may have witnessed the incident to contact Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222 or speak to any officer.”
The vandalism of the flag pole is the latest in a series of incidents in recent years that appear to be striking out against British identity.
In 2008, Edzell residents spoke out against a ”xenophobic” and ”racist” flyer campaign that targeted the owners of the Millden Estate in Glen Esk.
Flyers were posted on walls and bins in the village, referring to a clearance of ”native people” and farmers, and speaking of a need to ”embarrass the non-indigenous owners” of the land.
The A4-size messages appeared to be penned by a group called the Campaign for Scottish Democracy.
One of the posters read: ”Scottish land league attention! Glen Esk is currently being cleared of farmers and native people to make way for sporting land.
”The message is raised to make aware the behaviour of Millden Estate and embarrass its non-indigenous owners and also to bring an end to the foreign landlord system that has been in force in Scotland since the Act of Union.
”C@mp@ign for Scottish democracy, land reform and the rights of a modern European state.”
Around the same time as the flyer campaign, a display of flags put up by the village improvement society was targeted by vandals.
The Union Flag was ripped down on three separate occasions, with the Edzell Village Improvement Society footing the bill for another flag to be put back in its place.
During the first attack a lock on the flagpole was badly damaged, and the flag was taken down and torched. In the second attack the pulley system was destroyed at a cost of £200 and the flag was removed.
The spree of vandalism culminated just last year when one of the flagpoles was hacked down overnight, costing £1,100 to replace.
At the time members of the local community council suspected the acts could be linked to the group behind the flyers. Mr Myles was one of those to speak out against the actions of the vandals at the time of the incident.