A Monopoly-themed act of vandalism has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage at a Kent Wildlife Trust car park.

A sign outlining the prices for staying at the Oare Marshes site, in Faversham, was covered with a drawing of a red car, with the words “free parking”, displayed, in a style redolent of the popular board game.

The stunt, which occurred last week, cost the trust £2,000.

The conservation charity removed the sign, and responded on Facebook, highlighting how charges go towards helping their mission to preserve the natural world.

The post read: “Oare Marshes car park was met with vandalism, where the car-parking charge sign was replaced by a free parking Monopoly sign,” the post read.

“We think we have a better idea…”

A photo shared alongside the post shows the sign with the free parking crossed out and the added text “Please pay to protect nature”.

The social media post went on: “We know many visitors to Oare Marshes come to fill bottles of water from the artisan well that we maintain on the site, most people would not think twice about spending a few pounds on plastic bottled water, yet this is something on offer, free to our visitors.

“We charge for parking at seven of our 90+ reserves across the county, Oare Marshes being one.

“All of the money from those who pay for parking goes towards the management of the reserves. The trust does not receive any money made from those fined, with fines being paid to a third-party company.

“Please continue to pay for parking to help protect our reserves. Thank you for reading and sharing this message.”

Head of land management, Simon Bateman-Brown said although no profit is made from parking charges the trust enforces, it is a “valuable contribution”.

‘We do not make a profit from parking, but it is a valuable contribution...’

He said: “Every motorist who pays for parking is helping us deliver a wilder Kent as they are directly contributing to our work. We do not make a profit from parking, but it is a valuable contribution that supports the £1.2m annual running costs of our reserves.”

“In Oare, money from car-parking has helped us improve water level control, something that makes the area more resilient to climate change, creating a landscape so that migrating birds can be sustained in the long-term, whilst also providing refuge for the amphibians that live here.

“We appreciate that people have strong opinions on paying for parking and there is a common misconception we generate income from fines – this is incorrect, a third-party company receives this income, not the charity.

“If any motorist was duped into thinking parking was free by this vandalism and subsequently fined, please get in contact with us so we can contact the car-park management company in an effort to get the charge waived.”

The trust will now be installing CCTV at the site and has reported this incident of vandalism to the police.