Police are hunting vandals who ran amok at a popular Highland Perthshire putting green.
Volunteers at the community-run Aberfeldy course are facing a major clear-up operation after a malicious attack which saw rock salt deliberately poured across the site and into four holes.
The “mindless” vandalism has turned parts of the green a nasty shady of brown.
The facility was shut down after council cutbacks in 2014, but was relaunched after a successful campaign by locals three years ago.
It is now run as a charity by a small band of volunteers. The group is constantly fund-raising to maintain the green, gardens, kiosk and toilets.
The green is open to visitors from March to October and brought in about 3,000 people last year.
Community coordinator Alison Steele said: “It was very sad to turn up in the morning and find the course in such a state.
“We’ve been running the green for about two to three years now and we’ve never had any problems like this.
“It’s not going to cost a lot of money to fix, but it is going to take a lot of time and effort to get it cleaned up. It was hard work scooping the rock salt out of the holes.
“We will have to change the layout, re-position the holes and get new turf. It’s going to cost us about £500 to £600.
She said: “I just find it shocking that someone would do this to us. We don’t have any problems with anyone here. Who would do something like this?”
Alison added: “We’ve managed to keep the green open, but we’ve had to apologise to visitors about the state of it.”
Police Scotland has appealed for any witnesses to get in touch. It is thought the vandals struck last week.
A spokesman said: “We can confirm we are investigating a report of vandalism at the putting green in Taybridge Road, Aberfeldy. This happened sometime between 3pm on Tuesday June 13, and 9am on Friday June 16.”
He continued: “The grass on the putting green has been damaged by having a corrosive substance, possibly salt, placed on it, causing extensive damage.
“The grass will have to be dug up and replaced, which is both time-consuming and expensive.”
Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 or freephone Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.
