Commemorative bench, satellite dish and cars targeted by louts. Residents have had enough.

A HONITON woman has been forced to remove a commemorative bench from a retirement area after it was attacked by vandals.

Margaret Robson took away the bench, which has stood in Westcott Way since 1988, after louts pushed it over the wall of a neighbouring block of flats.

The commemorative bench was commissioned by Mrs Robson and her family to celebrate her late mother’s 100th birthday.

The 85-year-old said: “It is distressing that anybody can do such a thing.

“I felt very sorry for the people down in the flats as it could have gone through their window.”

Residents awoke to find the bench hanging over the wall on Sunday. Vandals had also damaged a Sky satellite dish on the building wall.

Residents further reported that two cars had been moved into the middle of the road in Orchard Way.

As a result of the incidents, Mrs Robson has since moved the bench to her daughter’s home. She said: “A lot of people used to sit on it. When you come back from the shops, it used to be nice to sit there before coming inside.

“It was there for everyone to use.”

Mrs Robson explained she had only had the bench cleaned and painted a few months ago.

“It is just mindless, but at least no one was hurt,” she said.

She added: “If I could catch them, I would hit them with my walking stick. It is just a down right nuisance.”

However, this is part of an ongoing problem in the area, according to residents, who told The Midweek Herald that their cars had been vandalised on numerous occasions and they were forced to wash off human excrement, which was left near their property.

One resident said: “The whole thing has meant people have lost out, because elderly people can no longer sit down there when they go out for walk.”