POLICE IN THE North are investing criminal damage to an SDLP party election billboard in Derry.

The incident happened in the Bonds Hill area of Derry in the early hours of this morning.

The Northern Ireland Assembly election takes place on Thursday, and SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood says “the destruction of a party election billboard in Derry won’t stop people voting for change”.

Eastwood says it “has been an incredibly nasty election campaign so far, with SDLP candidates coming under attack in constituencies across the North”.

The SDLP leader also claimed that “loyalist paramilitaries are manipulating young people and sending them to attack SDLP posters and billboards in every constituency where we could take a DUP seat”.

Meanwhile, SDLP Foyle candidate Sinead McLaughlin labelled the incident “an attack on democracy”. 

In a statement to The Journal, a PSNI spokesperson said “police are investigating a report of criminal damage at the Bond’s Hill area of Derry and enquiries are continuing”.

The spokesperson added that the PSNI is “doing everything we can to ensure all candidates can participate fully in the forthcoming Northern Ireland Assembly election free from harassment, intimidation and other forms of criminality”.

This act of criminal damage in Derry follows an incident last Saturday (April 23) in which People Before Profit candidate Hannah Kenny was physically and verbally assaulted while canvassing in east Belfast.