Vandals target hay bales again at South Mainland farm

Vandals have sparked anger on a South Mainland farm for the second time in four months by destroying silage bales.

Twenty bales were destroyed this week at Brake in Quendale, causing £600-worth of damage.

The attack follows a previous incident in October when over 70 bales were damaged in the area.

At the time farmer Ronnie Obern said he believed the incident could have been an act of sabotage inflicted by people jealous of his son Kevin’s success rate in breeding lambs.

On top of their farming commitments the family also runs the butcher shop J K Mainland in Lerwick’s Commercial Street, which they took over last year following the closure of long-established James S Smith.

Mr Obern said success in the butchers could also have sparked an unsavoury reaction among some people.

His son Kevin Obern said the two attacks had left almost 100 bales ruined. He said he was “disgusted” that the bales’ plastic coverings had been slashed.

“Somebody has slashed another 20 of them. Another 20 bales – that’s nearly £3,000 of a loss so far,” he said.

“Some of them are just ripped completely open. They’re unrepairable. It’s no different to someone smashing up your car. It’s a lot of money.

“We’ve never heard of anyone stooping to this level. It’s disgusting.”

He said most of the bales would be unusable as a result of the attack.

A police spokesman said: “We are aware of a report of alleged damage to some bales in the area at Quendale and we are making enquiries into that.

“If anyone has seen anybody in the area acting suspiciously then we would ask them to contact us.”