CAMERA footage of vandals causing more than €1,000 worth of damage to Christmas decorations in Union Hall is being examined by gardaí.
CCTV shows three vehicles driving into Union Hall at about 3am on Sunday morning raising hopes that the perpetrators can be tracked down.
Two illuminated reindeer, each valued at €300, were damaged along with a Christmas tree constructed of heavy-duty cable lights, setting the community scheme back an estimated €400 to €500.
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Items were also thrown into the middle of the road in front of Church View housing estate.
‘This is the first time we have been targeted by vandals,’ Don O’Donovan, chairperson of the Union Hall Development Association told The Southern Star.
‘At 2.50am the tree was lit but we know that by 3.15am the tree was gone.’
Camera footage shows three cars, including a blue BMW and a black Volkswagen Golf. Anyone who saw the Christmas parade and lighting ceremony in Union Hall on December 6th will know the level of community involvement in this project.
‘This is a tight-knit community and to see these lights having been pulled and broken is a source of great disappointment locally,’ said Don.
‘It’s alarming to be honest because where the damage was done there were houses very close to it. They were within 10ft of people’s front doors. But that didn’t seem to deter these fellas from going 700 yards across grass into property to do this damage.’
Don said the development association has issued an appeal to anyone with cameras on their property, as well as doorcams, to check them for the hour of 2.30am to 3.30am on Sunday, January 4th.
‘Ours is a 100% voluntary organisation and this initiative every Christmas highlights our community spirit so it is hard to understand the mindset required to get out of a car and cause such damage.
‘It was out of badness that this was done,’ he added. ‘I have no doubt in my mind about that. We are just lucky that they didn’t go into William and Diana O’Donovan’s Christmas lighting display, which raises thousands of euros each year for charitable causes.’
This is the first time that Union Hall has been targeted in this way.
Don said locals will be pursuing the matter with a view to having the culprits charged and prosecuted in the district court.
