VANDALS prised open a vault in a military cemetery in Prospect where the remains of former police officers were housed.

The macabre discovery was made by Bermuda National Trust worker Gladwin Darrell yesterday morning.

Trust property manager Steve Conway said the incident was "disturbing" and that the intruders had apparently used a chisel to remove two slabs of stone that covered part of the lid of the vault.

And a police spokesman said yesterday that the service was "dismayed" by the incident.

"Somebody deliberately opened a grave and we discovered it this morning," said Mr. Conway yesterday. "It's very disturbing that someone would want to do something like that.

"It was repaired within the hour. It had two-foot slabs like beams and somebody had apparently use a chisel to remove the last two of them. It's very unusual."

The Trust looks after all the military cemeteries on the island and in his eight years as property manager, Mr. Conway said he had seen nothing like it.

Mr. Conway did not reveal the names on the vault, as it had not been possible to inform families yesterday.

Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said: "The Bermuda Police Service is dismayed to learn of the apparent interference and/or vandalism of a gravesite in the Police Cemetery.

"The cemetery is near a residential area and we would ask that anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity in the area, or anyone with any information about this incident to contact 295-0011."