A group of youths have been captured on camera vandalising property and “harassing” passers-by.

The footage shows six children ripping foam from scaffolding and hitting cars along Sittingbourne High Street.

Witness Matilda Johnson says the youngsters were “swearing, destroying things and harassing innocent people”.

The resident believes more officers patrolling the roads is needed.

She added: “The police station is a three-minute walk away but there are never any police around.

“They don’t care at all and are so young – either way, nothing happens.”

A post was shared on a local Facebook group last Friday (January 3) after they were spotted at around 6.30pm.

“If these are your ‘children’ you might want to have a word,” it said. “Today they decided to rip the yellow sponge off the scaffolding and then try and hit people going past.

“Yes, the sponge is soft before anyone says ‘just kids being kids’ but it's the principal of it. Don't touch other people and don't destroy things!”

Click here to read our investigation into Sittingbourne’s notorious anti-social behaviour problem.

It now has more than 300 comments, with many criticising the parents, while others thought that their actions were harmless.

One person said: “Unfortunately this is one of the reasons myself and my daughter won’t go into town when we know the schools have finished.

“There are some brilliant youngsters out there but the small minority gangs up to cause trouble and cause distress to others.”

Another added: “This is the very reason both of my children are not allowed to just wander around town, there is nothing to do apart from cause trouble.

“I would rather them be at home chatting to their friends online or playing football for their teams where they socialise with their friends. Not hassling the general public.

“The town is dead enough as it is, but more people are put off nipping into town because of the kids running amok everywhere.”

A comment also mentioned that the scaffold is no longer visible at street level, which is dangerous and potentially makes the company liable if there is an accident.

This incident comes after a group of teenagers began causing havoc with physical and verbal attacks at the town’s Christmas lights switch-on.

Families attending the event were “fearful” and organisers were “disgusted” by their actions, which were reported to the police.

As a result, they have promised to hire security next year.

The council has previously sent out uniformed marshals to patrol the streets to crack down on rowdy behaviour.

This was introduced in December 2023, but is only active during the school holidays and runs until March.