BIRD reserve staff are facing a bill for more than £1,000 after graffiti vandals attacked a newly-refurbished shelter.

The black and red writing was scrawled across 24 out of 48 wooden shelter panels which had taken volunteers at Radipole Lake, Weymouth, more than 100 hours to sand down, freshly paint and install.

RSPB Radipole and Lodmoor site manager Nick Tomlinson said the refurbishment had only just been completed.

He added: "This site overlooking Radipole Lake is very popular with visitors.

"Unfortunately it is also very popular with vandals, who were responsible for an arson attack which destroyed a previous wooden shelter on this site.

"To combat this the new shelter is predominantly steel and concrete but its panels - in green, brown and yellow to reflect the seasonal colours of the reserve - are wood.

"The vandals have scrawled their messages across two dozen of the panels in thick marker pen which has ruined the whole refurbishment.

"We are now taking all the boards down so they can be repainted and put back up again. The whole cost will be more than £1,000."

Mr Tomlinson added that police had been informed of the vandalism attack.

He said: "We would urge every decent law-abiding member of the public to help us preserve this facility by immediately reporting any vandalism direct to the police.

"This is a public facility which is maintained at the expense of the RSPB, so we appeal to people to help us keep it going by being vigilant."

Mr Tomlinson paid tribute to the dedicated RSPB volunteers who were now attempting to sand off the graffiti and get the boards repainted and back up in time for a bank holiday family fun day at the lake on Easter Monday.

He said: "It is heartbreaking for them to have carried out all this work only to have to do it all again just because a few idiots want to scrawl out mindless messages.

"We appreciate the volunteers' efforts and we hope that members of the public will support them because having to clean up after the vandals means that other reserve work suffers."