Two stained-glass windows at the church where Mary, Queen of Scots was baptised have been smashed by vandals. Around 80 panes of glass, thought to be worth thousands of pounds, were targeted at St Michael�s Parish Church.

Two stained-glass windows at the church where Mary, Queen of Scots was baptised have been smashed by vandals.

Around 80 panes of glass, thought to be worth thousands of pounds, were targeted at St Michael's Parish Church, next to the Palace of Linlithgow in West Lothian.

The attack is believed to happened between 5pm on Wednesday and 12.45pm on Thursday. The church's minister, Dr Stewart Gillan, was said to be "angry and distraught" at the damage.

One window dating from 1885 depicts a scene dedicated to Scottish ocean explorer Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, who was born in West Lothian in 1830 and died in 1882. It features a fleet of ships.

A window showing St Bridget, the Celtic saint, was also targeted, and panes of glass next to images of King David I and James IV were reported to have been broken.

The church was favoured as a place of worship by a number of Scottish monarchs, most notably Mary, who was born in the palace on December 8, 1542 and baptised at St Michael's when it was under Catholic denomination.