Vandals have damaged a £3,500 grass roller which was only recently purchased by a cash-strapped cricket club after its equipment was ruined in the winter floods.
The machinery was targeted at Llanrwst Cricket Club’s Gwydir Park ground some time between 5.30pm on Saturday, June 18 and 9am the following day.
The second-hand roller was only bought a month ago through a mixture of fundraising and cash from an England and Wales Cricket Board grant.
Vice-chairman Trefor Williams, who discovered the damage on Sunday morning, said: “It’s heartbreaking. We put a lot of voluntary time into the club.
“We don’t know what the cost will be yet. We don’t have a bar at the club so it’s all done through sponsorship and fundraising.
“We’re under financial constraints as it is to keep cricket in Llanrwst – this will just make running the club even more difficult.
“At the start of the year we lost all our equipment because of the huge flooding . The pitch was under water for two weeks so we had to raise money to buy the new equipment.”
The damage to the roller includes ripped out electrical wires and a broken air vent as the vandals have attempted to gain access to the engine.
Mr Williams, who is also one of two groundsmen at the club, added: “It’s unusable. I’m not 100% sure what they were trying to do. They’ve also tried to break into the changing rooms.
“It’s a strong door with three locks on it and they’ve damaged one of them which will bring us extra cost. We’re looking at putting CCTV cameras up or security lighting but again it’s all extra cost.
“We’re midway through the season now and somewhere along the line we will have to borrow a roller to get the pitch ready.”
PC Lowri Roberts, of North Wales Police, said: “The club have recently replaced several items of equipment which had been damaged during flooding and the roller was one of the items.
“I’d like to hear from anyone who has information to contact me or my colleagues at Llanrwst police station on 101 quoting reference number RC16090088.”
SEE-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/vandals-wreck-equipment-cash-strapped-11505485
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