WORLD : Vandals Despoil Stonehenge

LONDON — Stonehenge, Britain’s best-known ancient monument, was shrouded in sackcloth and twine on the vernal equinox today to cover 4-foot graffiti spelling out “L-I-V-E.”

The letters were daubed early Sunday on four upright monoliths at the prehistoric monument dating from the neolithic period. The vandalism was blamed on about 20 trespassers whom police and security guards discovered and evicted from the site, 80 miles southwest of London, during the night, Wiltshire Police said.

“I was very angry indeed,” said Brian Davison, inspector of ancient monuments for English Heritage, caretaker of Britain’s antiquities. “I don’t know why it has been done. At the moment it is just spoiling everyone’s enjoyment of . . . a national treasure.”