Exeter primary school shed and equipment destroyed in arson attack
Police are appealing for information after a fire destroyed £9,000 worth of school equipment in an arson attack at Pinhoe Church of England Primary School in Exeter.
Firefighters were called out at around 11.45pm on Thursday 4 February after reports that an external shed had been set alight.
The flames were extinguished but the shed and the contents, worth approximately £9,000 of school sports and electrical equipment, were completely destroyed in the fire.
The fire is the latest in a number of recent incidents at the school during the past two weeks in which people have caused damage on site.
The school have thanked the public for their support: "We will rebuild and we will move on because despite this event and the pandemic, we are an amazing school community."
Sergeant Emma Storey-Barrett of the East Exeter neighbourhood policing team, said: "There is a clear trend of escalating antisocial behaviour and sadly criminality in this area during the recent few months.
“We will be tackling this in a number of ways over the coming weeks, including introducing street marshals in partnership with Exeter City Council.
"Anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated and we would like to remind everyone that we remain in a national lockdown and that children shouldn’t be out in groups during late evening hours."
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call police on 101 quoting crime reference number CR/008978/21.
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