Council bosses have vowed to take action after graffiti was scrawled on a sacred war memorial.
The bronze plaques in the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre commemorate men who gave their lives for the country in the First and Second World Wars.
They are positioned high on a wall near to the multi-storey car park on the corner of Church Street and Tib Street.
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The unsightly graffiti was daubed onto a poppy mural below.
The plaques remember the men of J & N Philips and Co Ltd who fought and died in both world wars.
Founded in Staffordshire in 1747, the textile manufacturer's Manchester building stood on the site where the car park stands today.
The tribute tablets were saved and remounted after the company, which also produced smallwares, stopped trading in around 1969.
A total of 95 servicemen lost in the First World War, and 18 in the second, are commemorated on the plaques.
They read: "Remember the men of J&N Philips, who endured great hardships and achieved glorious deeds in the Great War.
"These, counting not their lives dear unto themselves, died for freedom and country.
"1914 - 1919.
"These tablets were transferred from the premises of J & N Philips and Co Ltd (founded 1747) whose building stood on this site from 1826 until 1969."
It's not known when the graffiti appeared, but the council have now vowed to clean the mural.
Councillor Pat Karney, the council's city centre spokesman, said: "It is hard to understand how people can vandalise a memorial to people who gave so much for Manchester and their country.
"People in Manchester will be rightly disgusted by this - and the fact that any vandalism can take place at any sacred memorial.
"We will get it cleaned up as soon as possible."
Manchester city centre's main cenotaph war memorial stands in front of the Cooper Street entrance to the town hall.
It was moved there in 2014 from a site nearby between the St Peter's Square Metrolink platform and Mosley Street in the city centre.
