LONDON, July 14 -- U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped the Iran nuclear deal to spite his predecessor Barack Obama, British media on Sunday quoted a leaked memo as saying.

The memo, written by Britain's former ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch, said the move was a "diplomatic vandalism," according to the Mail newspaper.

"The administration is set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism, seemingly for ideological and personality reasons -- it was Obama's deal," Darroch wrote in a diplomatic telegram in May 2018.

The newspaper said the memo was written shortly after then British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson appealed to Washington to stick with the nuclear deal.

In the cable, Darroch indicated there were splits among Trump's advisers and said the White House lacked a "day-after" strategy.

The first batch of leaked memos criticizing the Trump administration appeared last week, and prompted Darroch's resignation from his role.