Workers for Scottish Borders Council arrived at St Andrew’s Cemetery on Monday morning to find six headstones in the shape of crosses damaged, while a bench was also vandalised.

It is believed the headstones are at least 60 years old and had been pushed to the ground between 3pm last Friday and 9am on Monday.

But calls for the hidden Neidpath Road graveyard – that witnessed the burial of Royal Marine Alec Lucas within its grounds last year – to have security, such as CCTV cameras, installed, have been dismissed by Peebles and District Community Council members.

Angry chairman Ian Wilson said: “I am thoroughly disgusted when people deface or damage gravestones.

“I don’t know what their mentality is, but I honestly don’t think this would be kids.

“I know older gravestones fall over but for people to delibrately destroy them is horrible.

“However, you have to leave the cemetery open. People like walking through to lay flowers at the graves of relatives.

“To have security at the entrance is unthinkable, but unfortunately it is going to be hard to catch the vandals. The cemetery is a bit out of the way and is surrounded by high walls, which means passers-by would be unlikely to see the incident.”

Secretary of Peebles and District Community Council, David Pye, named Hay Lodge Park and Victoria Park alongside St Andrews Cemetery as areas of the town that required extra police attention.

“This incident is disrespectful to the families who have relatives buried there,” he added.

“They should think about what they are doing – their grannies or other relatives could be buried in that cemetery. But these people don’t think about the distress they are causing.

“We are lucky in Peebles that vandalism is not a huge issue, although we do get isolated incidents, mainly in the summer and at weekends.

“It is not a good reflection on Peebles, but in general we don’t have a problem with vandalism.”

Other local graveyards have previously been targeted.

Eastlands Cemetery in Galashiels witnessed £50,000 worth of damage caused to 97 headstones and memorials in 2003, resulting in two 10-year-old schoolboys being charged.

And last year, the same secluded cemetery saw nine headstones sprayed with obscene graffiti, along with another two being broken.

But a spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police maintained the region’s graveyards are safe places for the bereaved to bury their loved ones.

She said: “We will react to significant increases of incidents in cemeteries or any park and public place, but thankfully the Borders has yet to see this type of behaviour become commonplace.

“Operation Gladiator, the Scottish Borders anti-vandalism team, would be grateful for any information in connection with this crime.”