Outrage as vandals destroy sensory garden in Monageer
WORK is ongoing to restore the Monageer Parish Grotto and Sensory Garden after young vandals left the place in a terrible state last week, provoking outrage in the local community. The beautiful sensory garden officially opened during the summer after three years of hard work from a dedicated team of volunteers. This team were left devastated on Friday when they discovered that all their hard work had been undone in one foul swoop by a group of vandals.
The music wall, containing musical instruments made entirely out of recycled materials, was completely destroyed; picnic tables were overturned and thrown down the bank; signs and fairy doors were pulled off; the wormery was damaged; the water was turned on and books were taken from the book exchange and torn up, and, somewhat bizarrely, excrement was placed inside the little library.
Gardaí were immediately notified of the vandalism and those who look after the grotto praised them for ‘acting quickly’.
In a subsequent statement, they said: ‘ The boys responsible for the recent acts of vandalism were at the Grotto from early this morning with their parents. They have cleared up the damage, apologised, and have offered to work there to make reparation for their misdeeds. We truly hope they have learned their lesson and will never do anything like that again.’
While the vandalism came as a major blow to those behind the sensory path, they have said that the one positive to come from it has been the amount of community spirit on display in the area.
‘We have been astonished by the messages of support and by the numbers who turned up this morning to help out, donate materials and books, make tea and bring buns,’ they said. ‘Community spirit is alive and well in Monageer. Onward and upward from here. Thanks to everyone.’