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Video: The Drop Redoubt
is under attack

A Kent fort under attack from vandals hosted
the launch of a national drive to protect historic
buildings yesterday.

The 200-year-old Drop Redoubt on Dover's Western Heights
was chosen for the campaign after yobs repeatedly targeted
it.

According to police, hammers have been used to dislodge
stonework, sprayed graffiti over a wall, and nails and screws
driven into bricks.

Officers say this is a worrying trend and criminals often don't
realise the full impact of their actions.

Archaeologist Dr Andrew Richardson and Chief Inspector Mark
Harrison both warned those responsible face jail and
heavy fines.

Police say offences are taking place at the Western Heights on a
weekly basis.

They include spraying graffiti on the walls and several
extreme attempts to break in - despite there being nothing of
value inside to steal.

Concrete-block walls have also been knocked down. Officers said
vandals have been using car jacks and oxy-acetylene torches in
their raids.

Elsewhere in the county, graffiti has been sprayed on the grade
II listed Folkestone Viaduct.

Canterbury City Council was among the first local authorities in
the country to sign up to the scheme which means such crimes will
now be tackled in a much more co-ordinated way.

Dr Richardson, a member of Canterbury Archaeological Trust and
Dover District Council, is already drawing up impact statements to
produce to magistrates and Crown Court judges about the effect of
damage on historic buildings for when cases come to court.

"With graffiti, for example, we can attempt to clean it off but
that’s only partially successful," he said.

"Particularly with old porous brickwork it can be almost
impossible to completely remove it without causing damage to the
fabric itself.

"So what they are doing is causing potentially irreversible harm
to our heritage.

"People may think they are having a bit of fun without realising
they are causing damage to something that has stood here for
hundreds of years."

The initiative is being spearheaded by English Heritage.

People are being encouraged to be aware of the risk of criminal
damage to historic sites and buildings in their area and to report
suspicious behaviour to their neighbourhood policing teams.