Vandals broke into a north-east recycling plant and shut down power forcing council officers to close the facility.
Stonehaven’s Redcloak waste centre was targeted on Wednesday night and has now been closed until further notice.
An electrician was at the site yesterday to assess the damage and carry out safety checks,
Police are also investigating and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Now the town’s residents will have to take their recyclables to nearby Portlethen to dispose of them.
Last night local councillor Wendy Agnew blasted the perpetrators and said she hoped they would be punished.
“I just don’t understand why anyone would do this,” she said.
“Because of this it’s going to have to be closed and people are going to have to travel with their rubbish.
“Sometimes you don’t know where peoples’ brains are. We don’t know who it was but I really hope the police catch them and I hope they get a real punishment for what they did. We’re getting too soft these days.”
A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said it was unclear when the site would reopen.
He said: “It appears the site was broken into and an electricity box vandalised and damaged to the extent it is not operational, meaning equipment on site can’t be used.
“The site is currently closed to allow an electrician to assess the damage, for safety checks and to allow the police to investigate.
“We will be working to minimise any inconvenience to our customers.”
Portlethen recycling centre is in Badentoy Industrial Estate and is open Saturday to Thursday between 9am to 4.30pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.