Union bosses are 'absolutely disgusted' after vandals smashed up a Scots station just hours before a memorial was held to remember the victims of last year's Stonehaven rail disaster.
Raging officials said the attack at Stonehaven station 'besmirches the memory' of the three men who died when the train hit a landslip near the Aberdeenshire town just over a year ago.
The thugs smashed up flower pots leaving a trail of destruction on Thursday- with rail staff across Scotland falling silent just hours later to remember the victims and a special plaque unveiled at Stonehaven station in their honour.
Disaster struck on August 12 last year when the 6.38am train, travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow, hit a landslip which had been washed down on to the track from the drain at Carmont, near Stonehaven.
Heavy rainfall had fallen before the tragedy, with horrific pictures showing the wreckage being probed by investigators for weeks.
Driver Brett McCullough, 45, and conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, were killed in the incident, which sent shockwaves through the country.
Passenger Chris Stuchbury, 62, was on one the way to one of his final shifts at work as the tugboat master on the Firth of Forth when he was killed.
Six were also injured.
Now ASLEF, the train drivers union, have blasted the vandals while a police probe is underway.
Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF’s organiser in Scotland, said: ‘I am absolutely disgusted that anyone would want to do this. It besmirches the memory of all those who were involved in, and affected by, the accident.’
Kevin, who attended the unveiling of a memorial plaque at Stonehaven station on Thursday, said: ‘I understand this incident of mindless vandalism was captured on CCTV and I hope that anyone with any information will contact British Transport Police.
"All vandalism should be condemned, but it is especially painful for the families of those people affected by the tragedy a year ago, that this station, and these flowers, should be targeted in this way."
The accident cast a long shadow across the railway industry, not just in Scotland, but throughout the United Kingdom.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said: "The families of those affected by the accident at Stonehaven deserve better than this."
Raging locals have also hit out.
Writing on the Aberdeen Guardian Facebook page, Brian Brechin wrote: "This is the world we now live in no respect for the loss of life or how the families that lost their loved ones on this of all days time people and parents were held accountable."
Iris French wrote: "I hope they catch them on CCTV - what a disgusting thing to do at any time but today should be sacred to the memory. How beautiful it was too before desecration.
"I don't know what sort of minds these vandals have - beyond comprehension."
Angie Murray added: "What a disgrace, I hope they get some details from the CCTV and people involved get punishment."
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