People have donated more than £15,000 to repair the vandalised grave of murdered toddler James Bulger.

Two cherub statues next to the two-year-old’s headstone had their heads smashed off in the attack at Kirkdale Cemetery in Liverpool on Thursday.

James was lured away from his mum in February 1993 at a Bootle shopping centre by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson – then both aged 10 – who tortured and killed him.

His mother Denise Fergus said she felt her heart break when she learned of the damage, and launched a GoFundMe appeal to fix the headstone

PA Media Toddler James Bulger is wearing a brown jumper over a blue shirt and is smiling at the camera.PA Media

Two-year-old James Bulger was murdered in 1993

Writing about the vandalism, Fergus said: “I’m devastated someone could be so cruel and hurtful to my James.”

Fergus said she had been alerted by a dog walker and “rushed down” to the cemetery.

“I need to find whoever has done this to my son’s resting place,” she said.

Merseyside Police described the attack as “abhorrent and truly shocking.”