Vandalism to the £22million flood scheme in Inverness has provoked outrage from a group which aims to protect the city’s heritage
Messages in red paint were daubed on the sandstone wall along the River Ness over the weekend.
The graffiti, which is on Huntly Street around the Greig Street Bridge area, will be cleaned by council workers today, while work on the controversial flood alleviation scheme continues nearby.
Inverness Civic Trust highlighted the damage on social media – and received a huge response, with more than 34,000 viewing the pictures of the vandalism.
The flood walls have been controversial, with Huntly Street and Bank Street closed at several points over the last two years while the work has been ongoing.
The project has been subject to a number of delays, with businesses along the riverside hitting out at the length of time the project has taken to complete.
Bank Street is due to finally reopen at the end of this week.
However council officials were unable to confirm whether the road would reopen as planned. It is understood that senior figures were meeting representatives of the contractors to discuss progress yesterday afternoon.
Inverness Civic Trust spokesman John West acknowledged that there had been “considerable frustration” about the length of time it had taken to complete the project and the cost.
But he added that the reaction to the vandalism showed that people care for their streets.
He added: “It’s very frustrating to have it all desecrated like this as it finally nears completion.
“The fact that we’ve had 34,000 people looking at it on the internet with hundreds of comments condemning the vandalism shows the strength of feeling people have about it.”
City centre councillor Bet McAllister said she was “absolutely fizzing” about the vandalism.
She added: “It’s obviously been pre-meditated to draw attention to it.
“I can’t figure out why somebody would do something that stupid.
“I’m hoping that they are able to catch whoever is responsible, and I have the ideal punishment i mind.
“They should give community service and send them to clear up graffiti and see how they like it.”
Police said that they had been notified of the vandalism on Saturday morning, and have narrowed the time it happened to between 4.30pm on Friday and 7.45am on Saturday.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.