GARDENERS at Nythe allotments were distraught to find almost all their sheds damaged in an overnight attack by vandals.

Around 50 sheds at the field off Greenbridge Road were targeted between Wednesday and Thursday, with locks broken, windows smashed and the contents hurled about.

Chairman of the allotments society Geraldine Brant said members had already suffered one bout of vandalism last Saturday when around a third of the sheds were broken into.

In the latest incident she estimated around 95 per cent of the sheds had been attacked.

“They have set fire to paper in one and graffitied another. They smashed every single lock,” she told the Advertiser. In her shed the coffee jar was opened and granules were thrown everywhere.

“They tried to get into the community container but failed thank goodness. They have used people’s shovels to smash windows. It must have taken them ages. It is just mindless.

“I went past at 3.30pm. One of the plot holders was there then and there was no damage,” she said.

But on Thursday morning at about 10am a dog walker called her to alert her to the devastation.

“People are really upset because Nythe is trying to be more of a community allotments. We have lots of children on the site, but even the stuff they play with has been destroyed.”

Even the little touches that gardeners added to their plots like decorations and bird boxes, were targeted.

She said: “We all try to help each other and look after each other and this is just devastating for everybody.”

“What they seem to have done is looked through every canister and pot, probably looking for money. But no one keeps anything of any real value on site.

“They must have been here for quite a long time and there were probably several of them.”

She believed the vandals were not young children because of the evidence they left behind.

“The foot marks are at least size eight to 10,” she said.

The attack was made even worse by the fact that it happened just before Christmas. Many allotment holders spent Thursday trying to clear up the mess as scenes of crime experts gathered evidence.

“It is not the material or money, it is time,” said Geraldine.

She urged anyone with information to contact police on 101.