MEMBERS of Newport Croquet Club have been left “disheartened” after a series of vandalism attacks on the club lawns.

A fortnight ago the club suffered attacks on two of its three lawns. The thugs broke into the premises through the fencing and spilled the contents of a drum of concentrated liquid fertiliser onto lawn number. They also daubed obscene graffiti - a picture of male genitalia - on lawn three.

The estimated cost of the damage is �200.

This week the club suffered another break-in. This time the vandals turned and left on the watering hose, flooding lawn one.

“We have had a big struggle to get good lawns this year, mostly because of the long period of snow coverage followed by the long dry spell,” said a club spokesman. “A lot of club members have put in a lot of work and it is disheartening to see our efforts abused in this way.

“Croquet is not an elitist game and the club would welcome anyone who would wish to come along and learn the game.

“We would also welcome any information from anyone who may be able to shed some light on who might be responsible for the damage.”

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or 0300 333 4444, or calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.