A MEMORIAL to 12 children and a teacher who died in the Hagley school mini bus crash has been attacked by vandals.

The vandals caused £1,000 of damage to the memorial garden at St Ambrose RC Junior School, Kidderminster, which had been dedicated to the children from Hagley RC High School who died in the motorway smash in 1993.

School caretaker Les Jones found the destruction early on Tuesday morning.

Teddy bears had been broken, water features pulled apart, flowerpots and benches overturned and plants strewn on the floor.

Police believe the incident happened between 6pm on Monday and 8am on Tuesday.

It has appalled police and teachers at both St Ambrose and Hagley RC High schools, and is the second attack on a memorial to the victims. Last May, a carved panel was stolen from the Senses Garden in Brinton Park, Kidderminster.

"This is a terrible thing to do - to offend the memory of the dead and give this sort of example to a school of impressionable children," said Father Douglas Lamb, parish priest, St Ambrose school governor and former governor of Hagley RC School at the time of the crash.

"It really is a shocking thing to have done," he said.

The garden of peace was created by the school PTA and other parents in 1996, three years after the horrific accident on the M40 near Warwick, in November 1993.

Two mini buses of music-loving children were travelling back from a proms performance in London when the vehicle came off the road and hit a stationary lorry at around 80 mph.

Hagley RC headteacher Ted Hammond said he was very saddened at the news of the vandalism, and extended his sympathy to the families of the children involved in the crash.

"It is very sad to think that people can do this kind of thing and I hope they had no idea of the effects this will have on other people, especially the families."

Anyone with information should call police on 01562 820888, or Crime-stoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.