Vandals won’t dishearten us say Orangemen after graffiti attack on hall

Graffiti was sprayed over the front door of the Slievenadoley Road hall sometime between 10pm on Saturday, July 19 and 6.30am on Sunday, July 20.

It is understood that sectarian slogans were painted on the door, and were later removed by members of the Lodge.

This is not the first time the hall has been targeted by vandals, with sectarian graffiti being daubed on the wall of the hall in the past. Several years ago a petrol bomb was also thrown at the hall.

However, despite the ongoing attacks, members of the Lodge say they will not be discouraged and that the surrounding community do not want such incidents to occur.

A spokesperson for the lodge said: “I think this is young kids with nothing better to do. The feeling is that it is boys from outside the area who stop at the hall because it is easily accessible. You can just pull into the car park as there is no fence up.”

The Lodge are no considering installing security measures in an attempt to deter vandals from targeting the hall in the future.

“We are going to have to put cameras up,” continued the spokesperson. “They won’t come near the hall if we have cameras watching them.”

He added that regardless of damage caused to the hall, the members would continue their meetings.

“If they burn us down we will just build a bigger, better hall,” he added.

Police are appealing to anyone who has information in relation to this incident to contact them in Banbridge on the 101 non-emergency number. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.