Vandals go on rampage in memorial garden in Musselburgh

Kevin Young, project manager at DadsWork, which created the outdoor haven in the park at Moir Place, said that the charity was “devastated and disappointed” at the “mindless” destruction last Wednesday.

He said: “We have had this garden for six years without any issues – we have had huge community support.

“This was an act of utter vandalism with no respect for the work our families do at this garden.”

DadsWork, which supports dads and male carers and their families in Musselburgh, established the community garden in memory of David Drysdale, the founder of Fathers Network Scotland, as a “safe place” for families who don’t have gardens, to grow fruit and vegetables for personal use, and meet other people.

Mr Drysdale, from Edinburgh, a former trustee of DadsWork in Musselburgh, died after being diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer.

In March 2015, a troubling back pain Mr Drysdale was suffering from was discovered to be Ewing’s sarcoma – a rare and aggressive tumour on his spine. He died on July 4, 2016, aged 50.

The community garden project was helped by Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, which was working on a nearby housing development at Almond Park.

They delivered 36 tonnes of top soil, pallets of bricks and breeze blocks, cement and two tonnes of hard-core for the project.

Mr Drysdale’s family officially opened the garden in 2017.

Mr Young said: “This was an area these disrespectful people chose to enter, as it has a two-metre surrounding fence.”

He said that plants and bushes were ripped up, children’s picnic benches broken, and paint thrown over containers and raised beds, as well as fences.

He said: “As a charity supporting local people, we ask the local community to be vigilant and report to the police any vandalism or anti-social behaviour around our garden – please keep yourself safe and don’t challenge anyone.

“We hope this a one-off and those responsible have a long good think to themselves and a good look in the mirror on how their behaviour impacts others.

“We thank the community for challenging this type of behaviour by reporting it to the police.

“If you know who was responsible for this utter vandalism and selfishness, please pass any information on to the police or Crimestoppers.

“I am also happy to take any private messages in regards to this incident.”

He said: “Again, we are saddened and disappointed, but, not being deterred, we will continue on with our lovely garden for the benefit of our families and our community and charity. We haven’t been able to use our garden for the last couple of years due to Covid so this is unhelpful, as we’re working hard at our garden to be ready for the summer.”

A clean-up operation was planned this week.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “I can confirm that this report of vandalism was reported to officers around 9.20pm on Wednesday evening.”