Disheartened residents hit out at vandals who sent library books up in flames in a street.

The charred debris was discovered strewn along a railway bridge pathway in River near Dover on Sunday.

A resident who happened upon the mess believes 10-12 books had been either torched or torn up, having likely been swiped from the community library in a phone box in Lower Road, near the Co-op shop.

Some of the remnants were still on fire at the time of discovery.

When snaps of the burnt books circulated on social media networking sites some residents labelled the behaviour “disgusting”.

Others said the incident was part of a wider anti-social behaviour problem.

One resident told KentOnline that they felt very sad to think that this had been done deliberately.

“Obviously they had taken the books from our community phone box where people are able to leave books and take books freely which is a nice idea for all people living in the village,” they said.

“Absolutely no respect for anything,” they wrote.

“Probably the same group of teenagers that are banging on people's front doors again.”

Someone else commented on Facebook that is it “disgusting behaviour”, adding there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour recently.

“We literally can't have anything nice in our town,” they wrote.

“That little library is such a good idea as well. Shame on whoever did this.

“Lots of anti-social behaviour lately in our town. Thefts, vandalism, etc.. Mindless idiots with no respect.”

The parish council has been contacted for comment.