‘Alien’ graffiti painted on ancient Stonehenge-style monument in Cornwall
"ALIEN" graffiti has been sprayed onto an ancient monument in Cornwall.
Two extraterrestrial figures were daubed on one of the granite stones which is part of the 5,000-year-old Mulfra Quoit.
It remains a mystery as to who defaced the monument, but it's suspected that local vandals are responsible.
The graffiti has caused outrage among the local community and groups that work to protect and preserve the monuments.
The stones are believed to have been deliberately targeted due to their tricky-to-reach position up a steep hill near Penzance.
Cheryl Straffon, who is part of the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network, said: "These figures have been painted on one of the uprights of Mulfra Quoit.
"We have reported this graffiti to Historic England, and they are discussing ways that it can be safely removed.
"One wonders at the mentality of people who will disrespect an ancient site in this way."
Dating from between 3500 - 2500 BC, Mulfra Quoit is the remains of a Neolithic dolmen, a type of single chamber megalithic tomb which would have originally had four large upright stones supporting a large horizontal capstone.
Cheryl added: "It was done with charcoal it seems so it will need specialist treatment to remove it."
Historic England have been contacted about the graffiti at Mulfra Quoit, and will look into the best way of cleaning the paint off the stone that causes as little damage as possible to the patina of the ancient site.
It is hoped that the grey paint used on the stone will clean off without leaving any trace or damage on the stone.
The damage has infuriated many locals.
Mike Turner wrote on Facebook: "Shocking. What is it with people's mentality to destroy ancient monuments?"
Peter Jenkins added: "What complete and utter morons these idiots are."
TOP STORIES IN SCIENCE
In other news, a former Nasa scientist recently claimed that alien life was found on Mars in the 1970s.
But Nasa has denied the outlandish claims, and says no such discovery was made.
However, a top Nasa scientist did admit that "tiny super-intelligent" aliens may have already visited Earth.
Do you think we'll ever find proof of alien life? Let us know in the comments!
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