HUNDREDS of pounds worth of damage has been caused to a Christmas tree in the centre of Dunbar.

Volunteers taking down the annual festive display found that the artificial tree outside Dunbar Town House had again been damaged.

Graham Adams, chairman of the Dunbar Christmas Lights committee, gave an update to members of Dunbar Community Council earlier this month.

Speaking to the Courier, he said: “The tree has been egged by people, which will need to wash off.

“It is a bit of a health hazard with raw egg sitting there and it will eventually not be nice.

“There have been people trying to climb it and they have broken lights along the sections, which means we will need to repair it again.

“There has been damage to the panels – they are like aluminium, which is meant to look like bobbles – where people have been kicking and punching them.”

Glass beer bottles were also dumped inside the tree, which presented a hazard for volunteers dismantling it.

Mr Adams estimated the damage at between £500 and £700.

The damage to the six-metre-tall tree follows on the heels of similar issues over the festive period in the previous two years.

READ MORE: Dunbar's Christmas tree damaged after vandals attempt to climb it

Mr Adams said: “It gets frustrating for all the volunteers having to repair things not because of the weather or something inadvertently going wrong but somebody doing something silly that they should not do and causing additional fundraising burdens on people and work.

“We do not like to moan about things and try to stay positive but frustrating is the nicest way to put it.”

Mr Adams, who is also vice-chairman of the community council, stressed that spending money on repairs took cash away from any future plans to enhance the festive display.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, who represents the town on East Lothian Council, was among those at the community council meeting.

Speaking afterwards, the council leader said: “It is really sad that these things happen.

“I think it is some young people carrying on on the street and doing that vandalism.

“It is a shame that all the hard work done by the Christmas lights team is destroyed like that.

“It is money that could be used for doing other things and it has to be spent on repairing the lights.

“If anybody knows who they are, they should report that as soon as they can.”

Donate at easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/dunbarchristmaslights to support the volunteers, who meet weekly in the town’s Corn Exchange.