BEACH hut owners have been warned to be cautious after another motiveless act of vandalism.
Karen Cull has a beach hut on the front row of The Lees in Walton-on-the-Naze, which she checks on up to twice a day.
She was shocked to find the steps leading up to it had been sawn off just ten days after she spent £800 fitting a new roof, front deck and stairs.
The latest damage is likely to cost about £250 to fix.
Karen said: “I was in disbelief. The steps were sawn off just over three-quarters of the way up and then stolen.
“They were even concreted into the ground so it can’t have been easy or quick to do so.
“These people are coming along prepared and the incident confirmed to me they are watching the huts and committing targeted theft.
Karen's hut before the damage
"It’s a great shame. My brother has a boat on the Backwaters and says these are also being targeted.
“Owners just need to be aware this is happening, especially if they see people claiming to do work on beach huts late at night.
“It will not only help prevent others from experiencing this frustration, but might also be a deterrent to those going round doing despicable acts like this.”
Over the half-term holiday, patrols were also stepped up to 24-hours.
On Sunday night, patrol officer Stephen Beardsley disturbed four vandals trying to break into huts at High Wall, but lost them.
When he spotted them again at Connaught Avenue in Frinton, they scarpered for a second time.
Mr Dias has also noticed damage to plastic sheets covering already smashed panes of glass.
Frustrated - Peter Dias pictured in November 2016
He said: “It beggars belief. We want to be able to catch them and see them prosecuted because there’s no motive.
“The two biggest things people can do is fit storm doors which are difficult to get into and to reinforce their bottom doors because this is the most vulnerable part of a beach hut.
“Installing CCTV on the site is a can of worms because there isn’t enough money to do it, but at our recent annual general meeting we spoke with Sergeant Pete Gerard and are trying to look into what else can be done.”
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