OLD soldiers on the Tableland are outraged that a memorial to the fallen in Afghanistan has been desecrated before it has even been completed. 

Vandals sprayed graffiti on a newly laid path at the Avenue of Honour on the shores of Lake Tinaroo at Yungaburra, stole a sign and cut bunting over the long Australia Day weekend.

Earlier this week Tablelands Regional Council Mayor Rosa Lee Long planted a flame tree, the first of 60 that will line the pathway leading to a monument, which is intended to symbolise the "unbroken spirit".

As a result of the vandalism, Gordon Chuck, who has spearheaded the concept of the national memorial to Diggers killed in Afghanistan, said that the area would be put under video surveillance to prevent any repeat attack.

"If they do it again, they will be caught," Mr Chuck said.

"It demonstrates how un-Australian some people's actions can be."

The Avenue of Honour follows the funeral route taken by the gun carriage that carried Mr Chuck's son Pte Ben Chuck, who was killed with two other commandos when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed as it flew low and fast on a mission into enemy territory in Kandahar Province in June 2010.

Mr Chuck said that the paint daubing had been cleaned up straight way.

While the graffiti has been totally erased, it has left ex-servicemen and others feeling disgusted.

The Avenue of Honour is due to be officially opened on June 21.

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