“MINDLESS vandalism” was how a football club chief described more than £2,000 worth of damage caused to dugouts at the weekend, which saw poles used as weapons to trash the shelters.

Several panels in the dugouts at Millfield, home of Haddington Athletic, were damaged at some point last Friday night into Saturday morning.

Club president Drew Donaldson was disappointed with the damage and revealed that there could be a four-figure bill heading the club’s way.

Scaffolding poles are used to keep the nets down during games.

These were then used as a weapon and Mr Donaldson said: “One was taken and completely trashed two team shelters.

“All the panels are either cracked or broken.

“Two years ago, we got a new fence and team shelters and the shelters cost £8,000.

“We are looking at at least £2,000 worth of damage caused by their actions.” The vandalism was discovered on Saturday morning ahead of the club’s derby match with Tranent.

Mr Donaldson received a call at 9am from another committee member to say there was a problem.

He added: “[The teams] were able to use them but if it was raining they would have got wet.

“Fortunately, they did not break the seats in them but we are in the process of getting the ground up to Scottish Football Association (SFA) club licensing standards – things like this are not helping.” The club aims to create public toilets and a first aid room at the ground, with talks under way with planning officials at East Lothian Council.

However, Mr Donaldson stressed that damage to the dugouts was not going to help the club when it came to finances.

“There are four panels on each dugout, each is £250, so that is over £2,000,” he said.

“The hard thing is deciding if we replace them or look at another solution. We cannot keep replacing them at a cost of £2,000.

“It’s just mindless vandalism.” It is not the first time the South Division side’s park has been targeted by vandals.

Mr Donaldson said: “We have had problems going on for a few years with kids going in and drinking and leaving bottles.

“This is nothing new and it tends to happen now and again.

“A couple of weeks ago, it was noticed that folk were going in with bottles and there was broken glass on the park.” Mr Donaldson said police were targeting underage drinking in the town centre but feared it was pushing the youths out to the football park.

The issue was also raised at the town’s community council meeting on Tuesday.

Community beat officer PC Lynn Black said the area had previously been a “bit of a youth hotspot”, although this seemed to have calmed down.

She added: “There are enquiries ongoing and we have got a couple of names to follow up on this.” The officer confirmed she had also given the park some “attention” on Monday and Tuesday night.

The club leases the park from East Lothian Council.

However, Mr Donaldson was unsure if the terms of the lease would cover the cost.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “We were just notified [on Tuesday] by the club and someone from our property team will be going out to assess the damage more fully.”