Yobs in Wales have pried historic stones from the top of Bronllys Castle and chucked them from the top of a tower.

The late 11th or early 12th Century motte with an 80ft tall round masonry keep has had a number of ancient stones prized from the top and thrown down both inside and outside the structure.

As a short-term measure, the access door to the top of the motte is to be closed for a time to enable repairs to be undertaken and the stones replaced.

A recent works programme included improvements to the castle’s main entrance and a new “robust” metal access stairs to the tower.

The castle was built by anglo-Norman lord Richard Fitz Pons and in the 13th Century, a garrison defended the fortress against Llywelyn the Great.

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Some yobs have defaced a 19th-century Ottoman-era site in Jaffa, Israel, as well as the archaeological equipment left there.

“The site was significantly damaged. Several of the old stone walls were pushed over and are simply destroyed. The cobblestone road was damaged and water pipes were also defaced,” he said. “Considerable damage was done, but the site has not been destroyed completely.”

In addition to defacing historical structures, the perpetrators also damaged the archaeologists’ equipment. “Our nets were torn and fences were ripped down,” Arbel said. “They also created safety hazards, cutting electrical wires and taking down a fence that protected passersby from falling into the wells.” He said the hazards had since been fixed and the equipment repaired.

The Israel Antiquities Authority filed a complaint with the police yesterday, but no suspects have yet been detained.

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Some yobs have vandalized the Uffington White Horse by spraying it with purple spray paint.

Officers from Thames Valley Police were called to the 3,000-year-old chalk monument at about 2200 BST on Thursday.

They found the head and eye of the horse had been sprayed with purple paint. A banner that read “fathers 4 justice stop the secret family courts” was recovered from the scene.

New Fathers 4 Justice and Real Fathers for Justice both denied responsibility.

Police and members of the National Trust have been working to re-chalk the monument.

Sgt Steve Clark said: “The monument has been pretty much restored now and is back to how it should look.

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Vandals have damaged priceless rock art at Picture Rocks in Arizona.

“People have been seen vandalizing petroglyphs. There has been some damage – defacing of the rocks,” said Peter Tran, assistant director of the Redemptorist Renewal Center, 7101 W. Picture Rocks Road.

The center owns the land where rock outcrops are covered with more than 100 petroglyphs dating from about A.D. 900 to 1350. The carvings, believed to be the work of ancient Indians known as the Hohokam, depict animals, human-like figures, solstice and equinox markers, spirals and other designs.

Archaeologist Allen Dart – executive director of the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and a principal investigator for the EcoPlan Associates consulting firm – inspected the site this week for signs of vandalism.

It’s not possible to determine how many vandalism incidents have occurred in recent years, but Tran and Dart noted at least two serious examples.

One, said Dart, was an image that apparently was partly pecked into the rock and partly formed using chalk.

“It looked kind of like an owl’s face,” he said.

Tran said a nun reported an incident last year in which she observed a woman and girl “vandalizing part of the petroglyph underneath the goat” – referring to a carving that resembles a bighorn sheep.

“The sister saw that a piece of rock was missing where they had been chipping at it,” Tran said.

He said he has noted another defacement – the letters “MML” carved on a rock above the bighorn sheep figure.

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The Sears Point archaeological site in Yuma County, Arizona has been vandalized.

Arizona Bureau of Land Management rangers discovered the vandalism late last year at the large rock art site located on BLM-administered lands. They say the damage includes rolled boulders and fractured petroglyphs.

Archaeology located on public lands is protected by federal law. Authorities say defacement is punishable by up to a $100,000 fine and/or imprisonment for up to five years for each offense.

Sears Point Archaeological District is located about 75 miles east of Yuma. The site consists of petroglyphs, trails, rock alignments and other features which extend for miles along the southern bank of the Gila River

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