Stephen Lawrence centre vandalized

Vandals caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage to an educational centre dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lawrence, police said on Thursday, in what appeared to be a racially-motivated attack.

The vandals threw bricks through eight windows at the 10 million pound centre in Deptford, southeast London, barely a week after it opened.

City leaders condemned the incident, the latest in a string of attacks on the centre, as disgusting.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said it was being treated as a racist attack and hate crime.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, expressed his outrage.

"I am disgusted by this racist attack on the Stephen Lawrence Centre, which comes only one week after it officially opened," he said in a statement.

"This latest outrageous act of racism follows several others over the past few months on the centre.

"It also comes on the anniversary of the inquest that confirmed Stephen's death to be an unprovoked racist murder."

Local Chief Superintendent Alan Pughsley said he was dismayed by the attack.

"I have decided the incident will be treated as racially motivated because of the iconic status of the building, which has been subject to previous acts of vandalism whilst being built," he said in a statement.

The London Development Agency, which helped fund the centre, will offer any assistance, Livingstone said.

Lawrence, 18, was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London in 1993.

The case sparked a public outcry after police failed to prosecute the suspected killers and a damning report accused officers of incompetence and "institutional racism".

Three men - Neil Acourt, Gary Dobson and Luke Knight - were acquitted of murder in 1996 after a private prosecution brought by the Lawrence family collapsed.

The case against two others, Jamie Acourt and David Norris, was dropped before it reached court. All five men have repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder.

In 2004, the Crown Prosecution Service said a five-year review had not produced enough evidence to bring new charges.

No one has been arrested or charged over the vandal attack.