BETTER monitoring of a churchyard has been promised after the brutal vandalism of a soldier’s grave.

Kings Langley Parish Council has vowed to “give more thought” to the maintenance of the churchyard in All Saints Church in Church Lane, after a gravestone was smashed into three pieces, by what some councillors believe was an act of vandalism.

The broken gravestone of 21-year-old soldier, Rifleman J Harman of the Royal Ulster Rifles, who died on August 10, 1943, was found a few weeks ago, when village warden, Derek Dalton was patrolling the churchyard.

Derek said: “I was totally disgusted.

“It is obviously vandalism.

“How anyone can do anything like that to a gravestone I will never know, but to do it to someone who served their country, is an absolute disgrace.”

The closed cemetery is the responsibility of Dacorum Borough Council, but since funds have not yet been raised to maintain the churchyard, Derek has personally decided to help.

The ex-serviceman said: “I am proposing to sell calendars at Christmas, to help keep servicemen’s graves in good order.

“We need to keep them in better condition.”

Councillor Richard Roberts, of Dacorum Borough Council, said: “I am absolutely horrified, but let’s keep this in context, because vandalism hardly ever happens in Kings Langley.

“I was checking the churchyard the other day and I am keen to ensure it is well looked after.

“It lies at the heart of the village and so I am talking to Dacorum Borough Council about how we can maintain it better.”

According to the parish council clerk, Paul Dunham, the churchyard needs a few thousand pounds spent on it to “bring it into a decent state”, and ensure it is looked after in the future.

Amy Bingham, representative for Dacorum Borough Council, said: “Once a churchyard is full or closed, churches can apply to the council to do basic ground maintenance and to generally keep it safe.

“With regards to the report of vandalism at All Saints Church, we had not been made aware of this until now.

“Therefore, we will now be looking into this matter.”

According to the council, basic maintenance includes work such as grass cutting and looking after boundary fences.

Representative Sarah Jones, said: “Grave stones are usually the responsibility of family members.

“Where this is no longer practical, we are looking into the longer term plans of what we can do about it.”