A Highland League football club has been targeted by vandals for the second time in less than two months.
Fort William Football Club have been doing better on the pitch lately, with three wins in a row, but it seems the club now needs to tighten up its defences off the field.
About six weeks ago, thieves broke into the Lochaber club’s premises at Claggan and stole juice and crisps.
The snack bar at the pavilion was entered again over the weekend of Saturday December 20 and Sunday December 21.
This time, a jar of coffee was stolen, items were thrown onto the floor and damage was caused to the roller shutter, which could mean the club will be unable to open the snack bar for its next home game.
And police today issued an appeal for information about the incident.
Ronnie Maclean, who is one of the club’s directors and its former chairman, said: “It’s such a shame when everything else is going really well for the club.
“We’ve just got the ground licence from the SFA (Scottish Football Association) and we’ve had three wins in a row, which equalled the club record.
“Unfortunately, because of the weather, our last game was at the end of November, but we’re really hoping to make it four in a row and beat the club record with a win against Inverness Clachnacuddin at Claggan Park on Saturday.
“And then we get mindless acts of vandalism like this that really knock you for six.”
He added that, on both occasions, the people who broke into the snack bar seemed more intent on causing damage than stealing anything.
Mr Maclean said: “They’ve just vandalised the place and scattered stuff about.
“The only thing stolen this time was jar of coffee, which they smashed on the ground outside.
“It’s just the inconvenience it causes and the cost of repairing the damage.”
He added that the shutter had been repaired after the earlier break-in, but said they would not be able to repair it again before Saturday’s match.
Anyone with any information about the latest incident is asked to call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org