By Ian Austen

ian.austen@essnmedia.co.uk

Vandals have targeted allotments in South Norwood for the second week in a row, this time causing £4,000 of damage and stealing another £4,000 of tools and equipment.

They also daubed a shameless message on the walls of South Norwood Allotment Society's canteen in Alverston Road.

It read: "Sorry we have done it again but I was thirsty and broke. The things we sold first time didn't amount to much so we are doing you again."

The graffiti message was signed "John".

In the first incident last week, the thieves broke into 28 sheds, ransacked the canteen and stole a charity box, money from which was going to be donated to the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Their return last Saturday night saw another 18 sheds broken into and the canteen wrecked for a second time.

Rosemarie Green, the allotment society's secretary, said: "We are going to have to completely redecorate the inside of the canteen and we have got to replace the carpet."

"They poured paraffin over it. It wasn't very much but it was amazing how far it managed to spread."

Allotment holders had spent much of the last week replacing tools and equipment lost in the first break-in.

Mrs Green said: "They have now been nicked again and the problem is a lot of sheds were not insured.

"We had boarded up the canteen but they cut through a wire grille on the front door to get into the building and they also took bricks out of one of the walls."

The break-in was discovered when allotment holders started arriving on Sunday morning.

Mrs Green said: "When I turned up and saw what had happened I just had to walk away, I was so upset.

"A lot of the people who have allotments here are elderly and they can't afford to go on replacing tools which have been stolen from their sheds. It is just not fair on them."

Croydon police's burglary squad is investigating the two incidents.