Vandals destroy play park equipment as school holidays off to bad start for children

The equipment prior to the damage and Cllr Aidan Mather’s with the damaged equipment that had been removed and discarded.

School holidays have scarcely started and vandals have already set their sights on depriving children of the chance of playing in their much-loved park.

A piece of play equipment at the Loanda Crescent play park in Newry has been torn from its fixings and discarded for no reason at all.

And the incident has caused great anger and frustration within the local community.

Newry City Sinn Féin Councillor Aidan Mathers slammed the culprits who had caused “serious damage to a key part of the play equipment”.

And he added: “Those engaged in these anti-social acts are not children, as it took great efforts to do the damage caused. It will take a significant cost to repair the damages.

“I share the deep anger and frustration of the local community. The play area is a major part of the community infrastructure in this locality and the actions of these vandals have deprived families and children of a safe recreational space.”

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