CHILDREN who helped restore the Alton Barnes White Horse this summer were left devastated after Extinction Rebellion protesters defaced it with an hourglass logo on Sunday.

Rob Sutherland, who organised the clean-up which involved military helicopters, with the help of his daughter Molly, 11, said the youngsters from Woodborough Primary School were upset.

He said: “The children are all aware of the issues around climate and they want to make it better.

“But they can’t comprehend why the white horse was chosen for this.”

Hundreds of people helped re chalk the White Horse in the Pewsey Vale during two attempts in July and August .

The first attempt to fly in a Chinook had to be aborted because of bad weather.

A few days later when the helicopter returned school children and villagers helped to spread the tons of chalk on the horse and then returned again to finish the long job.

A number of people took to Facebook to condemn the climate change activists and said that even though cloth was used to create the logo the re-chalking could have been damaged by people walking on the horse.

It is cordoned off to stop people getting too close.

But a spokesman for the Pewsey Vale Extinction Rebellion group said: “Although we have received much support and understanding for our action involving the Alton Barnes White Horse, we are saddened by the more negative reactions.

“We laid out soft fabrics to create a piece of flash art that we had every intention of removing without trace by daybreak.

“It depicted an hourglass, the symbol used by Extinction Rebellion to draw attention to the very real fact that time is rapidly running out for us to mitigate against the catastrophic effects of climate change.

“We believe it is vital to deliver this message as urgently and as visibly as possible in order to awaken us all to the truth, and empower us to take the action that is so critically needed.”

James Noble, who took part in the action, said: “We had no intention of upsetting the children who did the re-chalking and we did not pick it because of the earlier publicity. But the White Horse is an important symbol and is owned by all of us.”

Mr Sutherland added: “Farmer Tim Carson and I went up Monday morning and we came across two Extinction Rebellion individuals. We transported the rags that were used to create the symbol off the hill. The chalk has been trodden on but thankfully there’s no major damage.”