MINDLESS VANDALS have caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage at Barrhead High School.

On two Monday mornings in a row, staff at the Aurs Road school returned to work to find that a number of windows had been smashed.

Janitorial staff alerted the police, who have now appealed for information in a bid to catch the culprits.

Inspector John McQuilter confirmed six windows were broken on the first weekend of the month, with a further nine smashed a week later.

He said: “It was only reported to us on November 15 that windows were broken at Barrhead High.

“We are looking for people to report information back to us if they saw anything suspicious in the area.

“This happened two weekends in a row and there were a total of 15 windows broken in those two weekends.

“The campus cops are up there just now and we’ve not had any further reports.”

It is understood that the bill for replacing all of the windows that were smashed during the two weekend wrecking sprees runs into several hundreds of pounds.

A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council said the local authority is co-operating with the police in an effort to tackle the problem of vandalism.

He added: “It is extremely disappointing that these completely unnecessary acts of vandalism have been carried out at Barrhead High.

“As soon as the damage was discovered, immediate steps were taken to arrange for the windows to be fixed.

“This behaviour is entirely unacceptable and we will continue to work closely with the police as they investigate these matters.”

Meanwhile, a selection of power tools worth hundreds of pounds were stolen from the building site where the new £29.7 million Barrhead High will stand.

The raid is believed to have been carried out some time between November 14 and November 15 at the yard, which lies adjacent to the existing school.

A spokesman for BAM Construction, who are building the new school, said: “The value of the theft was no more than £1,000 and, thankfully, has had no impact on the build.

“Our CCTV caught images of those responsible and we have been liaising with the police.”

Inspector McQuilter is urging members of the public who might have witnessed any suspicious activity in the area to come forward.

He said: “We were alerted to a theft from the building site next to Barrhead High School. Power tools were stolen from the yard.”

Anyone with information about the vandalism at Barrhead High or the theft of power tools from the building site is asked to call the police on 101.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.