Police have made two arrests after thousands of pounds of vandalism in Burnham-On-Sea’s Marine Cove in the early hours of Monday morning (October 28th).
Police told Burnham-On-Sea.com today (Tuesday) that two men, aged 20 and 19, had been arrested and bailed to return to police on November 4th.
The arrests came after Sedgemoor District Council, which oversees the seafront gardens, said it was “deeply saddened” about the trail of damage, pictured here.
CCTV footage shows two people carrying out the damage at around 1am on Monday, and the council says it is confident that the damage was not caused by overnight storms.
Two light columns were toppled, complete with stone foundation slabs, a Windsor Heritage lantern was shattered on its standing light column, and two tiers of stone paving were torn from the steps leading to the lion’s fountain.
Other damage included two timber benches being ripped from their ground fixings and thrown into the pool, and the centrepiece cherub in the pool also being toppled. The sundial was also pushed over and the dial removed from its plinth.
Harley Cook, Parks and Open Spaces Policy Officer for Sedgemoor, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The affected area has been cordoned off by Sedgemoor staff.”
“Estimates to ascertain the cost of the damage will need to be completed before a clear-up can take place.”
“Some loose and damaged items have been stored by the council for safe keeping. We would like to apologise to anyone unable to use the affected area of the garden during this time- such acts are beyond the councils control.”
Sedgemoor District Council’s Parks and CCTV staff are working closely with local police.
The council has requested that anyone with information about the damage should contact Burnham Police Station by calling 101, the non-emergency police telephone number.
Sedgemoor’s staff launched a clean-up operation in the seafront gardens
The scene of the damage in Marine Cove on Monday morning
Paving stones were damaged and several lamposts pushed over
Benches were dumped in the pond – and the cherub was also pushed over
Marine Cove is currently closed to the public while the damage is assessed
Two discarded hyperdermic needles were seen among the debris, although it is not known whether they are linked to the incident
