Vandals have forced the removal of two new mosaics designed to brighten up the outside of a Braithwaite community centre.

Youngsters ripped apart the three-dimensional pictures within hours of them being placed on the walls of the Whinfield Centre. They were damaged the night before they were due to be officially unveiled by the boss of a national charity.

The mosaics, made by children and mentally handicapped adults at the centre, show three doves of peace and a giant sunflower. Vandals ripped off petals and birds' beaks on the first night then returned the next evening to take away one of the birds.

Centre worker Lesley Wright has now removed the mosaics so they can be repaired and put up inside the building. She says: "It's such a shame. The whole purpose was to brighten up the centre and give people on the outside something nice to look at. The work was magnificent.

"It's a very small minority of young people who did the damage."

The unveiling was carried out by Danny Cullington, from the Foundation for Sport and Arts, which provided cash for materials and an art tutor.

Tutor Fiona Goodwin worked on several art projects with young members of Whinfield's after-school club and Keighley's JOIN project for people with learning disabilities. The tutor, with Braith-waite parent Pamela Short, her parents Christine and George Creek and Whinfield children, made a float for last week's Keighley Gala. Braithwaite and Guard House Community Association, which runs Whinfield, spent the past year preparing the float.

Pamela, an association committee member, designed and made children's costumes on the theme of aliens.

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