A north-east sports club has been left counting the cost after vandals targeted their precious playing surface.
The green and fence were damaged at Portsoy Bowling and Tennis club in an early morning incident over the weekend.
Parts of the perimeter at the Durn Road premises were then stabbed into the grass causing hundreds of pounds of damage.
It comes just weeks before the club begins its 2019 season with work well under way to make sure the bowling lawn was is in pristine condition.
A club official, who did not want to be named, said parts of the barrier off and simply planted them into the grass.
He also revealed their security cameras captured incident, which took place at around 5am on Saturday.
The official said: “Somebody pulled some of the fencing off and they stuck it in the green.
“Over the last few weeks they have pulled bits of the fence off.
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“We now have CCTV and we have a video of them doing it. We don’t know who it is but we handed it over to the police.
“The fence is bad enough, but once they start messing with the green it can be expensive.
“We’ll start preparing the lawn in March with a view to the season beginning in April.”
Police are appealing for witnesses and urged anyone who was around the bowling club on Saturday morning to come forward.
The officer leading the probe into the vandalism said it was “simply unacceptable” and he wants to find those behind it.
PC Sean Horne said “Deliberately damaging a community facility such as this is simply unacceptable.
“The cost of repair is expected to be a low three-figure sum of money which is both costly and inconvenient for the members of the club.
“I would like to reassure the community that we will use all available means open to us to identify those responsible and ensure that they have to face the consequences of their actions.
“If anyone recalls seeing anyone acting suspiciously in the Durn Road area of Portsoy in the early hours of Saturday morning I would ask that they contact us.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101.