Police investigate vandalism at historic Creswell Crags

Officers have released pictures showing some of the damage at Creswell Crags, between Worksop and Chesterfield.

Derbyshire Police rural crime team confirmed they were investiging.

They tweeted: “Damage reported today in relation to fires being started

“This is an Ancient Scheduled Monument and SSSI (site of special scientific interestt) and protected by law. Investigation now started.”

One resident said on social media “Who would do such an awful! Such disrespect for our ancestral heritage.”

Creswell Crags is home to the UK’s oldest Ice Age cave art and, over the years, it has welcomed Sir David Attenborough and the late Professor David Bellamy along with hundreds of school trips.

A £7million visitor centre opened in 2009, but the venue is currently closed due to lockdown.

Archaeologists have been excavating the caves since the 19th Century, when the Victorians first discovered the artefacts that lay beneath the cave floors.

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