Volunteers angry after vandalism at museum

VOLUNTEERS say thousands of pounds of damage has been caused at a new museum which was due to open this summer.

Barry at War museum was expected to open on August 5 but the extent of the damage means it won’t be ready this year.

Earlier this month vehicles and artefacts were trashed, windows smashed and paint daubed in the exhibition shed. Several items are also missing.

John Buxton said one of the main attractions was a miniature railway and military vehicle exhibition.

He said: “Now we’ll have to clear up the mess and find many thousands of pounds to repair and replace the items lost. Large sums will also have to be spent on improving the security of the shed and installing a new CCTV system.

“It’s such a shame these mindless vandals have wrecked our plans. Recently we have suffered a spate of anti-social behaviour with stored rail vehicles broken into and three road vehicles on site damaged so much that we had to scrap them.

“We are trying to do something positive for Barry at our own expense by telling Barry’s history in terms of the docks, the railway and the world wars. Barry has a proud history and we want to tell the story to the local community as well as visitors to Barry Island.

“We already run the only museum in Barry at the Barry Island station building and we wanted to expand our facility at Plymouth Road. However, there are groups of mindless hooligans in Barry who are thwarting our plans. There is no way that we can now open the new museum this year.” He said the community needs to unite. “The Barry community must come together to defeat this minority of mindless vandals”, said John. The whole community will be the loser if not and we cannot attempt to exhibit our rare, restored artefacts in a building that is being subject to sustained vandalism and theft.”

South Wales Police confirmed it is investigating a break-in and criminal damage.

The incident occurred some time between Saturday, June 10, and Monday, June 12, at the tram shed which is part of the heritage site on Plymouth Road in Barry.

Police are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anyone acting suspiciously in the area including at Maslin Park, which is at the rear of the property.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting ref: 1700225528 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.