Volunteers at a Market Drayton museum have spoken of the “inconvenience and nuisance” after vandals caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage last weekend.
The window of the Story of Drayton museum in Shropshire Street was smashed between 10pm last Saturday night at 10am on Sunday morning.
It is the second time in less than four months that the building has been targeted, after the front door was damaged in February.
Museum project manager Clive Chapman said it would cost up to £1,000 to replace the window, putting a “financial strain” on the Drayton Civic Society which runs the museum.
“It’s tough on us because we’re a charity that relies on donations and we’re all vounteers,” he said.
“For us as a society, it’s an inconvenience, a nuisance and it does start to worry you that it’s becoming more regular.
“Perhaps someone has to think about putting more cameras around the town but from our point of view, we’ve had two attacks in the space of three-and-a-half months so it does get a bit alarming.
“It puts a financial strain on us that we could do without and we have to start thinking of making reserves for this on a more regular basis.”
The museum was opened in April 2007 by the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, Algernon Heber-Percy, and is open four mornings a week.
It attracts between 800 and 1,000 visitors a year to see its display of more than 10,000 items which have been donated by Market Drayton residents over 30 years.
“The success of the museum can be judged by people seeming to know about it as far away as Somerset,” Clive said
“We drove past it on the way back from the Four Alls pub in Woodseaveson Saturday night and it was fine then.
“But the next morning, at about 10.30am, someone from the Edge nightclub rang us to say ‘I’ve got some bad news for you.’
“They said it was a drastic attack on the window, so we’ve got these good friends around the place who bring us the bad news.”
A Market Drayton Police spokeswoman confirmed that their enquiries into the attack were still ongoing and anyone with information should contact them on 0300 333 3000.
