Wokingham town centre was hit by yet another wave of vandalism on Tuesday night.
In Denmark Street, the windows of kitchen store Designs for Living were smashed, while pots containing trees outside the town hall and the Giggling Squid restaurant were overturned and their contents scattered.
The windows of Market Place’s Halifax branch were also smashed.
The incident was reported to the police but Wokingham Town Council is urging any members of the public to come forward with information.
Wokingham Town Council leader, Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey, told The Wokingham Paper: “It’s terrible that people think it’s okay to do this. We deplore this behaviour.
“From the town council’s perspective, cleaning up the trees is relatively minor. It is the smashed windows that are appalling.
“Somebody must have seen this. What we need is for them to report the vandals to the police.”
She said the vandalism suggests younger people are responsible as Tuesday night is not a normal drinking night and it is summertime.
It is similar to attacks that saw the town centre’s Christmas tree repeatedly vandalised, with yobs cutting up the lights and damaging decorations created by Wokingham’s schoolchildren.
Cllr Shepherd-DuBey added: “We have approved the budget for CCTV around the town centre, especially after what happened to the Christmas tree last year.
“We are just waiting for approval from planning department to get it installed on the town hall, because it is a Grade II* building.”
This CCTV will be linked to cameras in Peach Place, Market Place and Elms Field.
Cllr Shepherd-DuBey emphasised CCTV only works as a deterrent; identification from eye-witnesses is also needed in order to track down vandals, as well as an increased police presence.
She said: “These are mindless acts of vandalism, and it is due to the amount of policing we have.
“We need more boots on the ground and we need a police car in the town centre to make the troublemakers behave themselves as this has been a problem for a while.”
Town clerk Jan Nowecki said: “The police have been very proactive. They have been in to see me and they are content for it to be made public that an arrest has been made.”
