VANDALS have caused around £100,000 worth of damage and left vile graffiti at the former Glenochil Nursery site in Clacks.

Walls were knocked down, hundreds of windows were smashed, and Swastikas and a racist word were painted over some of the buildings at the plot in Menstrie last month.

Lights were also broken, doors snapped in two, and a disabled toilet smashed to pieces.

The scale of the destruction was so extensive that plans to create a new business on the site as part of a £2million investment are now being reviewed.

Caulders hoped to build a garden centre on the land – creating more than 30 jobs in the process – after receiving planning permission from Clacks Council in January last year.

At the time, councillors hailed the plans for the huge potential they had to boost business in Clackmannanshire.

Cllr Tina Murphy said the venture was anticipated to be a "roaring success", and cllr Donald Balsillie said: "Hopefully, it will be one of the major attractions in Clacks in the future."

However, Caulders' managing director, Colin Barrie, told the Advertiser this week that they are now considering pulling their investment from the Wee County.

"We're absolutely devastated," he said. "We just never expected so much absolutely mindless vandalism.

"It's just so shocking that folk would do that for no reason – there's no purpose to it.

"I think we're going to stop and think about [our project] now, and just review our situation.

"We would hope that we'd be able to get the confidence to go ahead with it, but it does make you think.

"If we start the build and then have the possibility of that level of damage, it's quite worrying."

The site is just off the A91 and is currently being used for storage by Caulders.

Joe McMillan helps manage the site for the company, and spoke about his shock at discovering the damage last month.

He said: "We came up on the 16th and the place was wrecked.

"We reckon about 200 panes of glass have been smashed; some of them are toughened glass, which are three times as expensive as normal glass.

"They've been using chairs [to smash the windows]. They've not just been here for an hour, they've been here for a shift, or two shifts – coming back in again.

"It'll cost £90,000 to £100,000 to repair the damage."

Joe believes that teenagers are to blame, having caught a large group of them smoking cannabis on the site once before.

He said: "I reckon it was locals – young ones.

"I came in here one night and chased them off, and they [headed towards Menstrie].

"There was about 14 of them in here, and they were all smoking joints."

What's most concerning Joe now is the possibility that more damage could be done while police investigate the incident.

He said: "What do we do? Do we just keep coming back to more damage and more damage?

"Even for me to come up and secure [the area], you're talking about £10,000 just now."

Police Scotland confirmed they are looking into the incident, and issued an appeal for anyone with information that could identify the culprits to get in touch.

A spokesperson said: "Police in Clackmannanshire are investigating following a vandalism in Menstrie.

"The incident happened sometime between Sunday and Friday, August 11-16, and resulted in several windows being damaged and plant pots and other furniture being strewn all over the yard area.

"Inquiries to identify those responsible are ongoing and anyone with information can contact us via 101 and quote incident number 1772 of August 16."