DAMAGE has been caused to Falmouth's tourist information centre at the start of its busiest period.

Staff at the centre, located on the Prince of Wales Pier, said they were "upset and shocked" at the vandalism that took place on Thursday night, just as the town was beginning to get busy with tourists.

A custom-made window will now have to be replaced, after it was apparently struck with a rock or brick. The door of the centre also displays scuff marks in two places.

Nicola Kneebone, supervisor at the Falmouth information centre, said: "I'm really upset actually. You just don't expect it. It's just a bit shocking I think, particularly because it seems so senseless. And it is our busy period now. On Easter Saturday we had 500 people through the door - we're a busy little office and of course you want the tourist information centre to look good at all times. The worst thing is having the tour- ist information centre looking like that - it's just terrible for us."

She said that the vandals did not appear to have tried to enter the shop and steal anything.

"It's just vandalism. I think that's the worst thing," she added.

The centre is run by Carrick district council, which will now have to foot the bill for the replacement window. The cost should hopefully come out of the insurance.

It is not known exactly when the vandalism took place, but Miss Kneebone said that the cleaner would have been in the office until around 6.30pm on Thursday, so it would have hap pened sometime after that. The vandalism had already been reported to the pier master by the time she arrived for work on Friday morning.

Miss Kneebone said she hoped that the vandals had been captured on footage taken by the CCTV cameras that cov ered the pier area.

Anyone with information about the vandalism attack should contact Falmouth police station on 08452 777444.