Earlier this month, a female was caught damaging plants in Shrewsbury town centre in the early hours of the morning.
The incident occurred at a number of locations along Castle Street and was spotted by CCTV operators.
West Mercia Police have now identified and spoken to the female, who has apologised for her behaviour and admitted that she had been under the influence of alcohol at the time. Feeling extremely ashamed of her actions, she has reimbursed Shrewsbury Town Council for the damage to the plants, which amounted to £250.
Helen Ball, town clerk for Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “Our staff work tremendously hard to maintain the floral displays around the town and it is always heart breaking to see such wilful damage carried out. We are pleased to hear that the female in question has been identified and has apologised for her behaviour. She has reimbursed the Town Council for the cost of the damage to a number of plants in the town centre.
“To enable us to all enjoy the floral features, we would ask that people continue to report anything untoward to either the Town Council or the local policing team, who work closely with us to ensure that any vandalism is dealt with appropriately.”
PC 3896 Matt Bourne of West Mercia Police, added: “We have a zero tolerance policy towards damage to the floral features in the town centre and we are pleased that we have been able to catch the person responsible for the vandalism earlier this month. The female in question has admitted her guilt and recompensed the Town Council for the cost of replacing the plants. We hope this discourages people from causing any further damage to the plants in the town centre.”