Staff at a north-east castle have uncovered previously unseen graffiti which dates back to World War Two.
The extraordinary find at Fyvie Castle includes the names of people who may have lived in the area during the time and even a caricature of Adolf Hitler.
The carvings and doodles were discovered during a clean of the castle’s downstairs area, inside the shaft of the property’s dumb waiter.
The castle’s head guide, Andrew Collins, was the first to uncover them and described it as completely accidental.
He said: “I was showing a colleague the dumb waiter in the castle, which was originally used to send food and other items up from below stairs to the main apartments.
“I took the door off and, while peering in, noticed some graffiti carved into one of the panels in the shaft. This turned out to be names and initials and what seems to be a crude likeness of Adolf Hitler.”
During the conflict, the north-east castle was used as a hospital.
Mr Collins believes they are the work of staff with a few minutes to spare amid the horrors of the conflict.
He added: “It looks like we have found traces of bored staff who wanted to record their time there for posterity as well as their opinion of the Nazi dictator.
“It’s these human touches that make working at Fyvie for the National Trust for Scotland so fascinating.”
The castle has now appealed for anyone who may have had a relative who worked at the castle during the war to help identify the names.
The initials include those of D Munro, M Moss, M Sorrie, M Malcolm and L Eddie.
A spokesman said: “Hopefully, somewhere out there is someone who had a grandparent who worked in service at Fyvie back in the day and we can put some faces to these names.
“Our tour is very focused on the upstairs. We would love to have more tales of the downstairs.”
Other markings include the names I Fraser, Evens, A Griffis, W Johnston, D Paterson and W Little.
Engravings for JB, IF and FT have also been carved into the wood.
