CHILDREN and staff at Westlands First School and Nursery are pleading with the community for help after they were left heartbroken by vandals who caused thousands of pounds of damage.
The school on Farmers Way in Droitwich had spent years raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to repair the previous issues with the roof, which was leaking and now, having finally got the building into a good condition, youths have started vandalising it.
There is now a considerable hole in the roof which is now going to cost several thousand pounds to fix again.
Those involved also threw picnic tables around the gardens destroying areas the pupils use as part of their lessons, including a pond utilised for science classes. By throwing the furniture the vandals have killed the frogs in the pond and left it unusable.
Deputy headteacher Amanda Richardson said: “We are just devastated after all our hard work.
“We are so worried it will carry on over the Easter period when the school is most vulnerable.”
The caretaker saw teenagers hanging around the school on Sunday and Monday night and called the police who will now be increasing uniformed foot patrols in the area.
Miss Richardson is now pleading with residents to keep an eye out in a bid to prevent further damage from being caused.
“The police are doing what they can but they cannot be there 24-hours-a-day.
“It is now going to cost us thousands to repair all the damage.
“This means we cannot go ahead with further improvements we had planned to boost the school.
“It is so sad that after years of fund-raising we are back in this position.
“We have tried so hard to make the school a nice place to be and it is such a shame that these vandals have to spoil it for everyone.”
A police spokesperson said she believed the criminal damage to the roof happened around 5.30pm.
“A number of youths were thought to be in the area at the time of the offence and officers will be monitoring the site as part of their evening patrols,” she said.
Anyone with information should call Droitwich Police on 101.
