Damage caused by vandals to youngsters’ changing facilities in Blairgowrie could cost as much as £2000 to repair, it has been claimed.
More than two dozen rocks and stones were thrown on to the roof of a container at the changing rooms for Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Football Club (BRCFC) destroying five of the 14 solar panels that provide lighting, heating and hot water.
The Piggy Lane facilities, which cost £70,000, were unveiled in January by BRCFC and the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP).
The vandalism has left a bitter taste with Sandy Thomson, chair of BRCFC.
He said: “These units are for the benefit of boys and girls in the whole community. It took years of hard work and negotiations to get them in place.
“The facilities are state-of-the-art and the first of their kind in Scotland and have only been in place since January.”
He continued: “It makes me so angry that just six months later this has happened. It doesn’t bode well for the Scottish Football Partnership wanting to roll this out in other areas does it?
“The teams are still training and we are running taster sessions for new teams as well. But we could find ourselves in the situation where there isn’t enough capacity in the remaining panels to provide power.
“It is very frustrating that the club and the SFP are trying to provide affordable facilities for all the youngsters in the area but some morons have, it seems, deliberately targeted the solar panels on the changing facilities.
“Quite frankly, it’s soul-destroying. We have no idea who did this.”
Anyone with information on the incident is urged to phone Police Scotland on 101.