THE chair of the Environment and Regeneration committee on Derry City and Strabane District Council has appealed for attacks on the council’s Christmas decorations, trees and lights in Derry city centre to stop.
Sinn Féin Councillor Colly Kelly was speaking after a number of vandalism incidents in recent weeks.
Councillor Kelly said: “It’s very sad that I have to make a public appeal for these vandalism attacks to stop.
“There have been five attacks on the Christmas trees in the city centre that we know of, two in Waterloo Place, two on the tree in the Guildhall and the most recent was on the one in the grass area beside the Guildhall on Monday night of this week.
“A lot time, effort and ratepayers money is spent in making our city centre look its best for the festive season.
“The last thing we need is for these mindless attacks to take place.”
Earlier this week, Derry City and Strabane District Council have reminded the public of the consequences of damaging Christmas decorations.
It said it had assembled a vast network of lights and trees across the City and District with recent switch-on ceremonies taking place in Derry, Strabane, Castlederg, Newtownstewart and Sion Mills with other smaller events planned for this week.
The tree in Strabane town centre has been damaged by vandals on a number of occasions and Council’s Head of Environment Conor Canning urged people to respect the decorations, warning of the potential dangers of interfering with them.
“It’s a shame to see the decorations being vandalised, particularly so soon after the success of the recent Christmas switch-on events,” said Mr Canning.
“It’s not just an attack on the community but it is potentially very dangerous given the electrical equipment involved and the size of the trees Council has erected.
“We would like to remind people that the decorations are there for everyone to enjoy throughout the festive season.
“We would urge everyone to respect this and warn those responsible that action will be taken by the PSNI against anyone engaging in such acts of vandalism.”
