Vandals daub Trusthorpe Village Hall with anti-vax messages

Vandals who daubed anti-vaccination messages on a Lincolnshire village hall have left local residents "gutted".

Trusthorpe Village Hall, near Mablethorpe, has recently been used by the NHS to deliver Covid vaccinations to the over-75s.

Repairs to external walls, windows and doors following the damage would require a fundraising appeal, the village hall committee said.

The incident was under investigation, Lincolnshire Police confirmed.

The messages daubed on several parts of the hall's exterior stated "clot shot here".

Kim Parrinder, from the Trusthorpe Village Hall committee, said she was contacted by residents on Thursday morning after they spotted the graffiti.

"I felt gutted, disappointed, really, really sad. I just couldn't understand why they would do it," she said.

The damage meant the Covid clinic planned at the hall for Thursday had to be cancelled, Ms Parrinder said.

"It is really sad. Some people choose to have the injection and they were very disappointed they couldn't have it," she added.

Ms Parrinder said the damage to the outside of the hall would prove challenging for the hall's finances.

"We do have an insurance. But in the last couple of years we've had subsidence and last year we had a major flood, so our excess is £5,000, so that's not really an option."

Ms Parrinder said, like all village halls, the committee did not have huge cash reserves as members did not want to charge more than people could afford to pay to hire the venue.

"Every week, it is a warm space place. Throughout the summer, it is coffee and chats. It is the home of the baby bank, used for exercise groups - all sorts of meetings, parties, christenings. You name it, we do it."

Ms Parrinder praised the local community's "fantastic" reaction to the vandalism and said she had received "so many offers of help".

She said she and the other members of the committee would be happy to hear people's ideas on how funds could be raised to cover the cost of repairs.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said officers were appealing for anyone with any information about the vandalism to contact them.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].