A date has been set for the cleaning and restoration of a dilapidated north-east monument.
Mormond Hill’s white stag was first carved into the Fraserburgh-facing side of the hill in 1870 to accompany a similar stone figure on the Strichen-facing slope.
Created to commemorate the wedding of the local laird, it is 240ft long and constructed of quartz rocks – each about five inches in diameter.
Records suggest it has only ever been cleaned about five times since the 1930s and the iconic image has become barely visible.
D-day for famous north-east landmark as “protected status” decision expected
Local volunteers have been planning to breathe new life into the site for some time and now plan to begin tackling the problem next month.
In recent weeks, LAM Forestry has cleared a path to the stag and also sprayed it with weed killer.
The group will be enlisting the help of pupils from Mintlaw Academy, with the work expected to take a few weeks.
Doug Simpson is one of the volunteers who has been spearheading the campaign.
He said: “It’s covered in gorse, heather and grass at the minute. It’s going to a big job for us because it’s such a large site.
“LAM Forestry has been a big help, at the moment they are spraying it all with weed killer and once that’s been done and left for a few weeks we’ll be able to access it.
“It really is a unique site, it’s the only hill figure of a deer in the world.”
The image of a horse the stag accompanies is shrouded in mystery.
The prevailing belief is that it was cut by Captain Fraser of the Flanders Campaign in 1794 to commemorate a sergeant who offered him his horse and was shot dead in the process.
Mormond Hill has latterly been used by Nato during the Cold War and British Telecom for antennae and aerial masts.
The clean-up will begin on July 3.
