Relatives of the people who died in the William Pit disaster have been left “sickened” by vandals who scrawled obscenities on a memorial site dedicated to their loved ones.

Seating around the William Pit memorial was defaced twice within 48 hours, after the original graffiti was then glossed over in an attempt to disguise the names inscribed on it.

The pit-head commemoration, near the Wagon Road between Whitehaven and Parton, commemorates the lives of 104 men who died in the William Pit tragedy in 1947.

Victoria Norman, whose grandfather, Joseph Norman died in the disaster, was “absolutely sickened” to discover the vandalism.

She said: “I went down and there were names written on the seats and absolute filth written on the wall.”

A Facebook post showing photos of the vandalism was widely shared and when Ms Norman returned to the memorial site on Saturday, she saw the graffiti had been covered with black gloss.

“The next thing, they’ve come down and put black gloss over the seats,” she said. “That’s my Granda’s memorial. I go down there to pay my respects and it was trashed.”

It is not the first time the memorial has been vandalised – six years ago the site was hit by yobs who left drug paraphernalia, smashed glass and hundreds of beer cans.

Ms Norman said: “When I drive up, I get knots in my stomach. I dread to see what I’m going to find.

“I’m having to go down every day to check on it.

“If you want to go and sit there, just have some respect. No graffiti. Take your rubbish with you.”

Joseph Hewer lost his father, also called Joseph, and his Uncle, Ronnie in the disaster, when he was just a baby.

He said: “It’s just so upsetting. Most of the people who are still alive with immediate family are old now. I was upset when Toria rang me about it. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

“It’s in such an out-of-the-way place but that’s where the pit was.”

David Moore, deputy mayor of Copeland, said: “I think it’s absolutely appalling that anyone could show disrespect, given the tragedy that happened there. Relatives go there as a place of sanctuary.

“We are looking to support them in cleaning up the mess. We will make enquiries and see if anything can be done.

“It’s really sad that people feel the need to treat the memorial area of such a huge disaster with such disrespect.”

A spokesperson for Cumbria Police said: “The original damage was reported to us on June 22. Anyone with information relating to this incident can report online at www.cumbria.police.uk/report-it, quoting incident number 230 of June 22, 2022. You can also phone on 101.

“Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”