Poppy Appeal posters in Kent have been defaced by protesters attacking former prime minister Tony Blair's war record.

The Royal British Legion annual appeal adverts emphasise their support for personnel who served in Afghanistan.

The poster shows war widow Hester Wright, 22, and her son Josh, six, holding a portrait of her late husband.

The slogan "For their sake, wear a poppy" has been replaced with "For their sake, prosecute Blair" on a billboard in Gillingham.

Objectors to Mr Blair's war record altered the sign outside Gillingham railway station.

'Making sacrifices'

Other posters in the Medway area have been changed to make the original message read: "For their sake, bring them home".

A spokesman for the Royal British Legion said they intended to amend the defaced images.

He said: "We do understand that the current campaign in Afghanistan and the recent activities in Iraq are not popular universally in the country.

"Opinion is divided but we do find that the public is four-square behind our British Armed Forces who are out there representing their country and making sacrifices."

Mrs Wright, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, became one of the public faces of the Poppy Appeal after her husband, Damian Wright, died in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan in 2007, aged 23.

The appeal aims to raise £31 million.

A Kent Police spokesperson said they were investigating the incident.