Vandals trash library garden in village
A GANG of yobs went on a wrecking spree, trashing a newly-planted garden area outside a volunteerrun village library.
The vandals struck at around 11pm on Friday August 18, ripping up flowers and smashing containers on the patch at the front of Sapcote Community Library in Church Street.
CCTV recorded the incident and images have been passed onto Leicestershire Police. Witnesses are also being sought.
The triangular plot had previously just been a stretch of grass but volunteers who run the library had decided to brighten it up with summer blooms.
A spokesman said: “Some Sapcote residents living in Church Street became aware of the results of some serious vandalism at around 11pm on Friday August 18. A group of youths, some of whom appeared to be the worse for drink, had systematically pulled up plants from the recently refurbished library garden. The improvements had been made by a small team of the library’s volunteers, and had received much positive comment.
“The vandals attempted to remove and then smash up two planters and to strew plants and soil across the footpath and Church Street itself. Fortunately, the antics of the vandals were captured by CCTV surveillance and according to a resident a number of those concerned appeared to be clearly recogniseable. The images are therefore being passed to the police.”
The library is now a registered charity and run and funded by a team of volunteers and the village community, including the parish council.
Like many rural libraries it faced an uncertain future when Leicestershire County Council decided to withdraw funding.
A committee was formed in January 2016 to take over the running of the venue and a relaunch took place in August last year.
Anyone who has information about the incident should contact the police on 101 or 0116 222 2222 quoting crime reference number 17000354817 or the library chairman, Robert Allen-Turl on Hinckley 272762.