A family has been left in shock after "vile" vandals ripped up their beloved dad's memorial at a remote Scots beauty spot and used it as a makeshift fire pit.
Nicola Watson, 35, lost her dad Billy Gouldstone after he "went to work one day and never came home" nearly 18 years ago.
Billy was just 46 when he took ill and tragically died at the wheel and, following his death, the family spread his ashes between a local cemetery and Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands.
But Nicola was horrified to discover her dad's plaque had been defaced by vandals who had ripped it off and used part of the memorial as a fire pit when she visited the site last weekend.
She said: “I just couldn’t believe it.
“The plaque was on a piece of marble and at first we saw burnt bits of wood and bits of ash, and empty cans lying about. I started to get all the ash off and I noticed the plaque wasn’t there.
“They had actually peeled the plaque off the marble and sat it further away, so it wasn’t just a case of using the base as a fire pit. They went to the extent of defacing it completely."
The 35-year-old and her husband also discovered rubbish strewn over the area - including cans of urine that had been left at the cherished site.
Nicola added: “To start a fire on something that is quite clearly a memorial is just disgusting.
“They would have known what it was.
“It was hurtful and we were so angry but also I couldn’t believe that people would ever think doing anything like that would be okay.
“Scotland gets a lot of tourists but people should know right from wrong and that’s not acceptable."
Nicola's dad, Billy, had always wanted to take his children to Glen Etive - but died before he could.
While the family lives in Ayrshire, they make the three-hour-long trip to the memorial regularly and Nicola's partner even proposed to her at the special spot.
In the 18 years since they put the plaque down, she says they have never experienced anything like it.
She said: “Eighteen years ago it was a place nobody really knew about but as hillwalking has become more popular in Scotland it has become busier.
"But where the actual tree is with the plaque it's a very secluded area. So, it has been people who have just been wandering and come across it.
"There's normally flowers there to mark it as well. There's never a time we go and don't leave flowers and will have been there when they did it."
The plaque has been completely destroyed by the vandals and the family will need to now replace it.
Nicola, who says she is just glad her mum didn't find the scene distressing scene, hopes to raise awareness around respecting the countryside after what has happened to her family.
She added: "I'm heartbroken. Although my dad died 18 years ago it's still awful. If that had been someone who was still grieving, then that would have been absolutely horrifying."
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