A DISRESPECTFUL woman was caught stealing flowers from a war memorial on the anniversary of the devastating Battle of Britain.

Mark Stott confronted the thieving woman as she was packing up the flowers she had dug up from the memorial in London, Beckenham.

At first Mark thought she was a volunteer coming to fix up the area around the memorial which commemorates the lives of fallen World War Two soldiers.

But Mark noticed she had plastic bags with her and she was actually stealing the flowers.

He said: "We thought this woman was tidying the plants and then we noticed she was digging them up.”

When Mark, a plumber and kitchen fitter, approached the woman she told him to call the police.

He said: “She told us that she didn’t care that it was a memorial and to call the police.”

Mark went on to call the police but nothing could be done.

He posted a picture of the woman to his local Facebook group with the caption: “This is the scumbag that thinks it’s okay to take up the plants from the Beckenham War Memorial.”

The post has received more than 200 comments.

Sally Marsh said: “She is taking what doesn't belong to her, that is theft.”

Charl Dickson said: “I can't believe someone would steal flowers from the memorial and that they were so blatant.”

People have been working together to fix the garden next to the war memorial over the last six months.

BATTLE THAT STOPPED NAZI INVASION

The Battle of Britain was one of the key turning points of World War Two.

It saw the RAF take on the Luftwaffe, as the Nazis began a sustained attack.

Nazi Germany hoped that by unleashing the large-scale bombing on London they would be able to coerce Britain into negotiating a peace settlement.

If the government failed to yield, it was hoped air defences would be sufficiently damaged to allow a large-scale seabourne invasion of southern England.

September 15, 1940, saw the climax of the fighting, with the RAF destroying 176 enemy aircraft and is now commemorated as Battle of Britain Day.

During the battle 544 RAF Fighter Command airmen died along with nearly 1,000 men from other commands.

Pilots suffered serious injuries throughout the course of the battle, with many badly burned as their planes were set alight.

The Sun Online has approached the Metropolitan police for a comment.

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