MINDLESS vandals tore off sections of the Petersfield cricket pavilion's roof before callously arranging the broken tiles to spell out "it was us" on the pitch. In the early hours of last Friday, clay tiles were stripped from the front roof of the building on the Heath and thrown to the ground, where the provocative message was carefully positioned. The vandalism has dismayed club chairman John Sayer, who said the club had been targeted consistently for several years. He told The Herald: "The people who do this are brainless hooligans. Vandalism has been very, very bad and what the club can do about it is really dependent on the cost of protection." The former Mayor of Petersfield, Brian Dutton, was also saddened by the vandalism, having recently witnessed the positive contribution other young people make to the community. He said: "I spent last Sunday at the Air Cadets' award presentation and saw how young people there worked together. "I was very impressed with the group - they are a credit to the town. But then, the following day, I heard of this wanton vandalism and am very depressed by the actions of this minority group in our community." It is not the first time the club has been targeted this year. Earlier this summer, vandals broke in through the scoreboard before accessing the main building. And on other occasions, alcohol has been taken from the club house and graffiti sprayed on to the exterior of the building. • Earlier on the same night, but in a separate incident, the police arrested a 31-year-old man, who is suspected of having ransacked the pavilion to steal a kettle and Christmas decorations. The officer in charge of the case, Pc Duncan Gordon, said the area was already considered a crime hotspot. And he asked for anyone with information about any instances of vandalism they might have witnessed to contact him on 0845 0454545.