Books were left filled with shards of broken glass after vandals destroyed a village's library space.

The yobs targeted the cabinets housing the community facility located in a bus stop on Canterbury Road, Lydden.

But volunteers behind the project and neighbours rallied to promptly clear up the mess as a police investigation has been launched to hunt the culprits.

Sharon Taylor, of the Lydden Village Community Group, said: "The damage and subsequent mess was great, however our wonderful community rallied around and cleared up all the mess.

"This involved opening each book to remove glass shards from their pages and clearing the entire floor space of glass.

"Despite the awfulness of this mindless act, our amazing village community got together and showed what a wonderful place this is to live in."

Witnesses say seven teenage louts lasered in on the Little Library at about 3.30pm last Saturday.

They smashed every single pane of glass in the book cabinets including those in the children's section, and broke the doors.

Community leaders believe the vandals shattered the glass with ball bearing, which were afterwards found strewn on the floor and on shelves.

One villager took the doors away to repair them and replace the broken glass with Perspex to help stop the criminal damage happening again.

The tiny library was set up inside the bus shelter during the first Covid lockdown in spring 2020 with users then staying safe through social distancing.

Ms Taylor said it proved to be a huge success for young and old residents.

She said: "It is is the hub of our village.

"For some, especially many of our elderly lonely residents, it is a lifeline and highlight of their week to walk along to the Little Library and exchange their books."

A police spokesman confirmed the report was made after the incident was detected on Saturday afternoon.

Anyone with information should call officers on 01843 222289, quoting the reference number 20-0824.