Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to festive decorations in a Moray town by drunken “fools”.
Potted marks have been left in the artificial Christmas tree in Buckie’s Cluny Square by people attempting to climb the giant cone.
Green mesh has been scrubbed from the structure by the thrill-seekers while the aluminium frame inside is feared to be twisted.
Now organisers of the Buckie Christmas Kracker fear the £8,000 decoration, which was bought two years ago from an Italian firm, may have to be replaced.
Chairman Andrew Murray said: “Someone has tried to climb it and vandalised it – there’s no other word for it.
“We’re pretty disgusted and working out what to do really. It’s really hit the morale of the team to think somebody could do that.
“It could have been worse. If they got right up to the top then it might have toppled. We’ve put a two-tonne water barrel inside it to keep it stable but it’s not designed for having people on it.”
The artificial tree was one of the focal points of the massive celebration when thousands of people attended to mark the beginning of the festive period in Buckie’s town centre in November.
Investigations to assess the extent of the damage will be done once the giant cone is dismantled into separate sections next month.
The foot marks on the structure stop short of the summit, meaning it is unlikely that the climbers were able to reach the summit.
Last night, Buckie councillor Gordon Cowie revealed he had heard reports of several people attempting to climb the tree.
He said: “It’s awful, particularly given the amount of work that goes into the decorations every year. It’s really knocked the stuffing out of us.
“We used to get a real Christmas tree but the cost was becoming too much. This was supposed to be an alternative but the saving could be wiped out now by fools.”
Yesterday, a police spokeswoman stressed that anyone with information should report it to officers by phoning 101.
