Outrage as school’s sensory garden is ransacked by vandals

The trespassers gained access to the school and allegedly ransacked the garden.

It is unclear when the attack took place and the PSNI said they had no record of such an attack.

A spokesperson for Pond Park Primary School said they had identified who had carried out the damage and would prefer to deal with the incident “privately”.

They declined to give any further comment.

Meanwhile, Alderman Amanda Grehan said: “This is a project that the children have worked on for a long time and anti-social behaviour in the area is getting worse.

“We need to find a way of connecting with the people who are doing this. I know the headmaster there and he would have enough on his plate without something like this happening.

“This is an outdoor space for our young people and we need that more than ever now.

“The response from the community has been amazing, with people offering money to fix the garden.

“This will not deter the school and I am confident that they will rebuild it successfully again.”

Green Party Cllr Simon Lee said: “I was sickened to hear about the damage to the wildlife and sensory garden at Pond Park Primary.

“It’s hard to fathom why anyone would do this.

“This is such an important resource for the children at the school, and I have been hearing a lot from residents who want to help.

“It’s heartening that when a few individuals engage in this appalling destructive behaviour, others step up and offer support.”