POLICE and a national charity have both expressed disappointment that there has been vandalism at a Norman fortress and its grounds.

Launceston Police took to social media last week reporting damage to the town’s castle.

PCSO Lawrence Hambrook told the Post it had appeared people had gathered at the castle grounds to ‘drink and party’ — but pointed out the area is an alcohol exclusion zone.

He said: “It’s the usual stuff — broken bottles, damage to the properties, stones pulled out of the castle walls. It could be anybody really.

“It’s just mindless vandalism really.”

PCSO Hambrook said while they do patrol the area, they would be keen to hear from anybody who sees any antisocial behaviour carried out. Incidents can be reported by calling the non-emergency number 101, or by emailing [email protected]/* */!function(t,e,r,n,c,a,p){try{t=document.currentScript||function(){for(t=document.getElementsByTagName('script'),e=t.length;e--;)if(t[e].getAttribute('data-cfhash'))return t[e]}();if(t&&(c=t.previousSibling)){p=t.parentNode;if(a=c.getAttribute('data-cfemail')){for(e=',r='0x'+a.substr(0,2)|0,n=2;a.length-n;n+=2)e+='%'+('0'+('0x'+a.substr(n,2)^r).toString(16)).slice(-2);p.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(decodeURIComponent(e)),c)}p.removeChild(t)}}catch(u){}}()/* */ — police said people can also dial 999 if they see somebody damaging the castle or buildings.

Matt Bulford, area manager for English Heritage, said: “It is disappointing that the historic fabric of Launceston Castle is so repeatedly being targeted by antisocial behaviour.

“In the past these incidents have cost us many thousands of pounds, diverting resources that could otherwise be used towards our charitable works elsewhere. We are working with the police to try to combat this misuse of the castle grounds, and if anyone has any information about this latest episode, I would urge them to contact the police immediately via 101.”