A VITAL community asset in Innerleithen has been hit by two “gut-wrenching” attacks of vandalism in the last week.

The events at the Swap and Share Shed are part of a spate of reported incidents in the town over recent days.

Other vandalism episodes have seen damage caused to St Ronan’s Primary School and a community garden, as well as the toilet block at Victoria Park and a nearby car.

The incidents are being treated as linked and officers are “following a positive line of enquiry”, according to a Police Scotland spokesperson.

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Shed organisers Gordon and Sheila Daly, who have lived in Innerleithen for the past nine years, said they were alerted to the vandalism on the night of Monday, December 27.

On the scene they were met with the following morning, Sheila said: “There were cans of meatballs all opened and flung about the shed, there were packets of pasta all opened and snapped. It was a real, real mess.”

After deep cleaning the area, volunteers left to hand out 200 donated turkeys to the Peeblesshire community.

However, on returning to the shed Gordon found that the space had again been vandalised.

“That was two days in a row where there was massive disruption caused to the shed,” said Sheila, who runs the Droopy Dandelion on the High Street. “We felt disheartened as it’s such a valuable commodity to the community.

“Just even seeing the pictures was gut-wrenching because you realise with each one these incidents, your project is at risk.

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“If we hadn’t found the broken glass and other things it would have been a risk to other people in the community. It’s a worrying pattern of behaviour and it’s always during school holidays.

“It’s an absolute lifeline for people in the town. If this resource was to be lost I think it would be a huge loss to the community and a whole host of other problems would ensue from that.”

Community councillor Gordon added: “I was extremely disheartened because of the amount of effort that myself, Sheila and the volunteers put in.

“We all believe that the shed is doing a good job for Innerleithen. It’s the one or two that let it down.”

The Swap and Share Shed, at the back of the Co-op car park on Peebles Road, opened in January last year.

Items ranging from books to food can be swapped, donated, or taken by the community.

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Elsewhere in Innerleithen, damage worth around £1,500 was caused to the community garden in the grounds of St Ronan’s Primary School, while the nursery was also targeted, according to reports.

On the cluster of incidents across the town, Tweeddale East councillor Robin Tatler said: “We’re disappointed with that sort of behaviour happening.

“It’s unusual for Innerleithen, it’s not something we’ve had huge issues with.”

Adding that the police will be stepping up patrols in the area, the independent representative said: “We’re especially upset about the sharing shed one. It’s truly mindless for people to be damaging what is a useful service.”

Gordon said that the town is currently “nowhere near” finding a solution to prevent attacks from vandals.

“It’s a problem we have to tackle but I’m not quite sure how we tackle it,” he said. “With the short staffing of the police force in this area it’s a very difficult nut to crack.”