THE mayor of Warminster has said she forgives thugs who scrawled racist graffiti over the walls of her home.

Cllr Dorothea Sultana De Maria returned to her home in Boreham Road from church on Tuesday morning to find racist taunts daubed on the white walls.

Mrs Sultana De Maria, who moved to Britain from Malta 23 years ago, said she was saddened rather than angered by the attack.

"We've lived in Warminster for 19 years and nothing like this has ever happened before.

"I'm very sad and disappointed. This is a lovely town with good community support but this is a sign of the times."

The mayor and her husband are devout Catholics and had been at St George's Church on Tuesday morning.

On their return their next-door neighbour asked them if they had seen the graffiti on the front of the house.

"When we left to go to church we used the back door and didn't go past the front of the house so we didn't see it first thing but it was probably done during the night," said Mrs Sultana De Maria.

"It is a sign of the friction and tensions between nations and faiths in this world," she said.

"I've no idea why they have done this to our home.

"But we have to forgive and move on. I hope whoever did it sees the error of their ways and become better people. We will pray for them."

The attack has been reported to police in Warminster, who have studied the graffiti on the house and are now looking into the incident. Scenes of crime officers were at the house on Tuesday.

Acting Inspector Ray Lewis said: "Anything racially motivated we take very seriously. We have to look at all the possible lines of inquiry.

"No matter which race or culture is attacked we take it just as seriously, whoever it is directed at."

He added it was a rare incident in Warminster and said police did not often receive reports of racist vandalism.

"As far as we're concerned, this is an isolated attack," he said.

"There is certainly not an epidemic here and we are not linking this with any other issues in the town."