A well-known landmark in Ramsgate, designed by one of the town’s most famous architects, has been smashed in a hit and run incident.

One of a pair of stone lions, sited on the south side of Victoria Parade, close to the Granville Theatre, was damaged by a vehicle. It was hit with such force that the lion toppled to the ground and smashed.

The lions, which are both grade II listed, date from Edward Welby Pugin’s general redevelopment of the area in the late 1860s. They each hold a scroll that is the same as that held by the lions on the Granville Hotel, bearing the Pugin motto "En Avant".

The costs of repairing the vandalism is estimated to be in the region of £1,500. The latest incident comes after one of the lions had to be repaired in 2007, also following vandalism.

As a result, the council is now looking at moving the lions to a site where they will be less vulnerable to vandalism.

EW Pugin, the eldest son of the renowned architect Augustus Welby Pugin, designed and built The Granville Hotel.