The community has been in uproar after heartless vandals targeted the memorial in Castle Park last Friday (August 21).
One Whitehaven resident, Barry Chambers, captured the damage on video and posted it on Facebook.
The clip has been viewed over 40,000 times and shared 1,500 times in less than a week.
Mr Chambers said: “I make different videos about different things.
“This one had a serious side to it.”
He said the aim of the video was to show the defacing of the memorial and also to show “people’s stupidity”.
Hundreds of comments have been posted on the social media site and police say they have received a high number of calls following an appeal for information.
Ray Devlin, an ex-serviceman from Whitehaven, said: “It’s disgusting to graffiti on a memorial to men and women who gave their lives for their country.”
A Cumbria Police spokesperson said that no arrests have been made and enqui-ries are ongoing. He added that around £500 of damage was caused to the memorial.
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