Mindless vandals cause extensive damage with ball bearings in Burntisland

The hunt is on for vandals who caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to property in Burntisland.

Police say they have responded to several reports of windows being cracked or smashed in and around the town centre in recent weeks, with the culprits apparently using some kind of BB gun or slingshot to fire small metal ball bearings at buildings and vehicles.

Four separate reports have come from residents in Somerville Street alone in recent weeks, while property in the High Street has also been vandalised in a similar fashion this summer.

Exactly how much damage has been caused in monetary terms is not yet known, but it is thought to be a four-figure sum.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Recently, we’ve received numerous reports of windows – of houses and cars – being damaged in the Burntisland town centre area.

“All of these windows appear to have been damaged by small metal ball bearings, which we believe may be getting fired from a catapult or similar device.

“If you have any information as to who could be responsible for firing these ball bearings in the Burntisland, please call 101 and ask for a message to be left for the Burntisland community police officers, or alternatively contact Crimestoppers.”

Somerville Street has also been the scene of a number of vandalisms to cars, with one resident suggesting vehicles have been scratched with keys or a similar sharp instrument in recent weeks.

The incidents have led to renewed calls for more police patrols, particularly over the summer months when Burntisland welcomes thousands of visitors each day to the Links for the annual fair.

Alex Macdonald, chairman of the town’s community council, said he was “obviously disappointed” at the recent events.

“We have historically had spates of anti-social behaviour and it had been good recently,” he said.

“We have had times in the past where we’ve had several weeks at a time of young folk gathering together and causing a nuisance, but thankfully that’s few and far between.

“We have excellent community police officers but just not enough of them. That’s not something they can control obviously.”

Conservative councillor Kathleen Leslie, who represents Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy, requested for a Domehawk security camera to be installed in the town centre but this was turned down by police.

She hopes the latest reports might “strengthen” the case.

She said“What the town is really needing is more of a police presence and people need to feel comfort when they report incidents.

“It’s a lack of community policing and I just don’t think there’s enough police to go around

“I’m not blaming the police though because it is all to do with resources and they can only do things with what they have but there seems to be be quite a number of these types of incidents coming up at the community council meetings, so it’s certainly something that needs to be addressed.”