On Monday, 23rd January, mindless vandals attacked the Midland Railway – Butterley site at Butterley in Derbyshire and caused wanton damage to both the railway's rolling stock, buildings, and infrastructure, and to its partner organisations based at the site.
By good fortune, a local dog walker heard the sound of glass breaking and alerted the police. Unfortunately, substantial damage various areas on the site had already suffered damage. These included the recently restored Butterley signal box, memorial benches, railway vehicles, windows in Butterley station, windows in the buffet, and the railway's works van.
The railway has previously suffered several bouts of vandalism, and since then has increased security including installing CCTV, which captured clear footage of the perpetrators. That CCTV footage has been passed on to Derbyshire Constabulary to help them with their investigation.
To repair the damage will require both time and money, which as a volunteer-led charity could have been better spent on making improvements for its volunteers and visitors.
It is heart-breaking that a few individuals feel that their actions are acceptable, and obviously don't realise how their mindless actions impact so badly on the railway's dedicated volunteers who give up their time and expense to restore and maintain the railway to secure it for future generations.
Although there are many financial demands on everyone at the moment, Midland Railway – Butterley is appealing for donations to further increase its on-site security, make repairs to the damaged buildings, and replace the works van. Any donations are greatly appreciated and can be made through the railway's webpage at https://www.midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk/
The railway would also welcome anyone who wishes to volunteer in any capacity.
I will put up a reward for individual parts or whole there of the perpetrators, extra financial incentive for more interesting parts and penalties for brains assuming you find any.
Unfortunately, this will be good money after bad no matter how well intentioned. The vandals should pay in full, or if they cannot be identified, the whole immediate area should be made to pay. This worked in the USA when vandals hit, the community were only too willing to make the names of the vandals known when they were hit in the pocket.