Hard-working residents who raised thousands of pounds to restore an iconic Burton bridge, have been left shocked and disgusted after vandals targeted the monument, and have called for CCTV to be installed to put a stop to the graffiti.

Earlier this week we revealed that yobs had spraypainted graffiti on the Ferry Bridge, months after it was unveiled following a £1.5 million restoration.

The people of Burton and South Derbyshire who helped to revamp the bridge by putting their hands in their pockets to restore the original plaques, took to social media to share their thoughts on the vandalism, only four months after people were shamed for attaching padlocks to the landmark in homage to a “love lock” craze made famous by bridges in France.

Robert King said that when the bridge was being refurbished, he predicted people would abuse it.

He said: “I was so proud to be one of the winners of the photographic competition in connection with the refurbishment of the bridge; to be part of the history. Like many would say, the respect has gone, there are a small minority that do this sort of thing. Respect for things around them, how people talk to each other, there is no community as such. Such a shame.”

Vandals have infuriated residents and Friends of the Ferry Bridge by spray painting parts of the bridge
Mail readers have spoken of their fury that the Ferry Bridge has been vandalised

Gary Shepherd echoed those sentiments as he wrote: “This happens to absolutely everything nowadays even brand new playground equipment for children gets vandalised with expletives written all over it, and youths moan there is there is nothing around for them to do, that is because they trash it all. It was only a week ago that football nets in Stretton were burned and completely ruined.”

Chris Bradders said he doesn’t know what the point is of the vandalism. He said: “Some graffiti is nice and classed as art but this just shows how uncreative and pathetic the offender is.”

He was not alone as Cody DcFc Matthews also labelled the culprit pathetic while Jake Bonner called the act “sickening.”

Abigail Newey simply wrote: “nothing can stay nice with people like this” while Ian Siddalls told the Burton Mail he thinks the vandals are disrespectful.

Vandals have infuriated residents and Friends of the Ferry Bridge by spray painting parts of the bridge
The Ferry Bridge was also targeted earlier this year when a spate of padlocks were found attached to the monument

He said: “The Ferry Bridge and many other iconic structures in our area are all for our future generations to enjoy, and to respect the hard work and commitment people from the past and the present day have to continue to keep our world famous heritage intact.”

Vera Poynton, Andrew Neil Dickson and Leila Jinx Walley all called for CCTV cameras to be installed in the bridge to prevent further vandalism.

Staffordshire County Council, which issued a stark reminder to the culprits about the consequences of the crime, is working to remove the graffiti and said it was disappointed to see the vandalism.

Helen Fisher, cabinet support member for highways and transport, said: “We were all incredibly pleased to see the re-opening of the Ferry Bridge last year following its major £1.5m restoration. It is an iconic local landmark which is much loved by people in the town.

Vandals have infuriated residents and Friends of the Ferry Bridge by spray painting parts of the bridge
Vandals have struck on the Ferry Bridge by spray painting three surfaces on the bridge.

“It is very disappointing to see it being vandalised like this and I would encourage anyone with information to contact the Police non-emergency number on 101.

“Our highways teams are making the necessary arrangements to have the graffiti removed.”