The vandals daubed paint on the Cockleshell Heroes plaque at the Rose Gardens in Southsea.

The Heroes were 10 daring Royal Marines who canoed into Bordeaux, France in 1942 to destroy enemy ships.

A swastika and racist messages were also scrawled on pathways near Canoe Lake last Friday night.

It is the latest in a string of extreme graffiti images to blight the city, prompting complaints from residents.

Tim Edwards, who lives in Gains Road, Southsea, said: 'I was walking past and saw this despicable act of vandalism.

'The Cockleshell Heroes plaque was painted yellow, and swastikas and white supremacist comments were sprayed on footpaths.

'It was probably the work of immature and ignorant yobs, who will not have the intelligence to realise the importance of this monument.'

During 1942 the Marines trained off Eastney beach for an operation that Winston Churchill said shortened the war by six months.

Five canoe teams left a submarine and paddled into France, but only two survived the mission.

David Gray, an ex-Marine who is rowing the same route for Help For Heroes next year, said: 'This is really quite crass because we are coming up to the anniversary of the raid on December 12.

'It was a suicide mission that saved Bordeaux being hit by a heavy bombing raid, and took out an entire ship.'

Across Portsmouth enforcement officers have been working with offenders to combat racist graffiti.

The city council has received complaints about symbols on houses, footbridges and in alleyways.

Enforcement teams with offenders from Hampshire's Community Payback scheme have painted over them.

Placement manager for Community Payback, Jeff Harris, said: 'The council is very quick to react to this sort of graffiti and the enforcement team immediately block out the most offensive bits.

'It is a great way for the offenders to pay back their debts to society.'

Councillor Jason Fazackarley, cabinet member for community safety, added: 'We have had incidents of symbols appearing in graveyards and Jewish cemeteries, but we believed it to be the work of juveniles or imbalanced individuals trying to provoke a response.

'Obviously it's not nice to have to walk past that stuff, once we know about it we tackle it and get it removed straight away.'

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