Mindless vandals left a trail of destruction at a Falmouth allotments this week, forcing open more than a dozen sheds and smashing up greenhouses.

The break-ins took place sometime over the weekend, between Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning, at the Little-In-Sight allotment site in Swanvale, which is owned by the town council.

Grant Mather has leased a plot on the site for the past 18 months and was one of the many victims swept up in last weekend’s mini crime wave.

His allotment sits on the side of the lane that runs from Marlborough House.

He said: “I had a phone call on Sunday morning from one of the other allotment holders to let me know that my shed had been damaged.

“It appears that some vandals had climbed over the big gates on my side of the road and they had attempted to get into the community hut.

“Being unsuccessful at that, they decided to have a go at my shed and they smashed the door open and made quite a bit of a mess on the inside.”

From what Grant could tell, nothing went missing from his shed but after contacting the police he was asked to secure the outbuilding and hasn’t had a chance to check since.

He said: “There were tools in there and thankfully they have not gone, so I’m pleased that I have not had anything stolen but at the same time it’s almost more annoying because you wonder what was the point.

“It’s mindless and it’s really annoying. It’s not going to be significantly expensive for me to repair the damage, but that’s not the issue – those allotments are a lovely community project, the schools are involved and there are a lot of young families with children as well.

“It’s a real cross section of society so when something like this happened it’s not as simple as a little bit of vandalism, it affects a lot of people.”

Tom Greenaway, deputy chair of the Falmouth and District Allotments and Gardens Society that manage the Swanvale site, said: “Members going to their allotments early on Sunday morning were greeted by the discovery of a dozen or more individual allotment sheds having been forced open, the contents ransacked and scattered outside.

“A greenhouse was also damaged and one shed toppled over completely.

“It is felt that the thieves were looking for power tools which members actually keep more safely at home and bring to their plots as needed.

“Nevertheless, the mess and damage left is very disappointing to decent families who get their enjoyment from having an allotment.”

Falmouth police are investigating the break-ins and have advised all allotment holders to be vigilant of their own and others plots and sheds.

Anyone with any information on the crimes committed over the weekend can contact PCSOs Ben Gardiner or John Dukes on 101.