Kentish Express Ashford & District
Probe as Park Mall bench gets torched
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after a community bench in the Park Mall shopping centre was set alight.
Furious residents have hit out at the vandalism, which happened in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Officers were called at 3.45am following a report of three people acting suspiciously, and found a smashed window at a kiosk in Park Mall and food items stolen from a shop in the high street, where there were also a number of newspapers set alight.
Police say the 15-year-old boy was later bailed pending further inquiries.
The bench, which is redecorated seasonally and was adorned with a rainbow, was set up and run by Made in Ashford, a shop that hosts a variety of arts and crafts businesses.
A spokeswoman for the store said she had been alerted to the fire by police the following morning.
She said: “Our beautiful community-created and seasonally changing bench (currently adorned by a beautiful hand knitted/crocheted rainbow) has been set on fire and burnt.
“This bench lives in a locked shopping centre, this incident happened at 3am after a few local shops were broken into.
“All that is left was the burnt wood of the frame, however we can’t repair it as some parts have burnt through.
“I would also like to add I put so much flame-repelling spray on it, it also contained non-flammable components, so it must have had something put on it to cause it to ignite and melt.
“Despite this being a really silly thing to do. I hope this is the only time this little group do something like this and learn from their mistakes.
“I also hope they put back into their community and learn to cherish the things we have here one day. Maybe get involved to help us make another one and volunteer with us.
“Many of our art installations and community projects have come up against vandalism lately but we will persevere. Ashford deserves nice things and our community is the best at coming together.”
One resident said: “This is truly sad and shocking. The bench was so lovely and brightened up Park Mall no end.”
■ Anyone with any information should call police on 01843 222289, quoting reference 46/207359/21.