Angle grinder vandals target parking signs in protest over charges at Faversham’s Oare Marshes

Vandals wielding an angle grinder destroyed a beauty spot’s parking signs in a suspected illegal protest against fees.

A police probe has been launched following three attempts to bring down placards in Faversham’s Oare Marshes – costing Kent Wildlife Trust thousands of pounds.

The charity introduced charges at Oare Marshes and six other reserves in February 2021 to help tackle the financial hit during the pandemic.

The decision was met with opposition from regular users of the scenic spots, with the trust believing the latest three weeks of vandalism came from a lingering response to the fees.

Kent Wildlife says the vandal’s actions have stolen staff time “which could have been better spent working for the benefit of wildlife on the reserve”.

Simon Bateman Brown, head of land management added: “Parking at the reserve for a whole day costs less than a cup of coffee but brings us vital revenue which supports our work.

“The money is put back into nature, so we can help wildlife to thrive.

“In other places, you will be paying per hour what we are charging for a day but for some reason, helping us to help nature seems to cause a level of anger where we find ourselves repeatedly targeted by criminal activity.

“I would like to stress, that no matter how many times the signs come down, they will be going back up, all this person is doing is risking a criminal record as we will support Kent Police in a prosecution.”

It comes less than a year after a Monopoly-themed act of vandalism cost £2,000 worth of damage at the beauty spot.

A sign outlining the prices for staying at the attraction, 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 trust – which manages more than 90 areas in the county – says the money raised by parking at Oare has “helped to carry out a range of habitat improvement and restoration works, including scrape works, ditch dredging and reed cutting; all of which improve the site for wildlife”.

Visitors bringing a car to Oare Marshes are asked to pay £2.50 on weekdays and £3.50 at the weekend to leave their vehicle all day but it does not receive any income from fines, which are collected by a third-party company.

Oare Marshes is said to be of international importance for migratory, overwintering and breeding wetland birds, and consists of one of the few remaining grazing marshes in Kent with freshwater dykes, open water scrapes, reedbed, salt marsh and seawall.

Visitors also come from far and wide to fill their bottles from the artesian well, which was fully restored in 2020.