Thugs destroyed gravestones and two Chapels of Rest after rampaging through Ribble Valley Remembrance Park (formerly Calderstones Cemetery), in Mitton Road.

The privately-owned cemetery incorporates the Whalley Military Cemetery, which had been left in a state of devastation. Although the graves of war heroes were not targeted, headstones and graves of some of the 1,000 former Calderstones patients had been overturned, smashed and strewn across the three-acre site.

Debris had then been thrown into the fenced-off area where those who gave their lives for their country are buried.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was inflicted on the chapels. All the windows were smashed, doors ripped off, ceilings pulled down, pews torn apart and a font toppled.

Clitheroe's Sgt Rob Evans said: "We have had a fantastic result to our witness appeal and, as a result, two local youths – aged 16 and 17 – have been arrested. Some of the youths who came forward and helped with the investigation, have been rewarded thanks to the police's reward scheme. The people who carried out the vandalism are despicable and more arrests are anticipated."

Call Clitheroe Police on 443344, or the free-and-confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111 with information.

>>Hooligans destroy cemetery - shocking pictures
>>People and pets cemetery planned?
>>Mystery buyer for cemetery