Nazi symbols daubed at home of St Duthus FC in Tain as club left counting cost of hateful graffiti attack
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A football club in Tain have been left counting the cost of another act of vandalism at its park this past week.
On Saturday, part of the fence at Grant Park, home of St Duthus Football Club, was found damaged and several rude daubings were discovered on the club's recently built tea hut.
The vandals also left a substantial amount of graffiti on one of the goal posts, having used a marker pen to draw swastikas and references to Adolf Hitler, along with other explicit drawings.
It is not the first time the Tain club have had to deal with vandalism during the present football season. Last July, a large brick was thrown through the window of their changing rooms.
In January, neighbouring village side Inver football club also reported the theft of a steel gate which had been stolen from the entrance to their park.
A spokesperson for St Duthus said: "This is the second time in the past year that we've had to deal with vandalism to our facilities. It is completely disheartening and often leaves you wondering if it's all worth it?
"People might assume that this is just a public park and that someone will just magically come along and deal with it – but like all sports club we are run by a team of volunteers who look after things at the club in their own time. Most of us have young families and it is difficult enough finding the time to do the basic work needed to improve the club, never mind having to deal with mindless acts of vandalism too.
"We will be able to paint over the goalposts, but the damage to our fencing and the offensive markings left on our tea hut are very disappointing as this will require costly repair. At the end of the day, who has to pay for that?
"We will be speaking to the police and hopefully the perpetrators can be held to account. Particularly, given the offensive nature of the graffiti. We would of course also welcome the culprits coming forward and offering to fix the damage they have done."
