Children and staff at a primary school have been left shocked and upset after vandals wreaked havoc in their nursery and playground.

Vandals threw a large stone through a nursery classroom window at St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, Wigton, shattering the glass all over the room.

They then splattered blue, white, yellow and black paint all over the playground, nursery door and play equipment. They even covered their hands in paint and made hand prints on a whiteboard in the playground, though not clearly enough for police to recover any finger prints.

Police are now investigating the incident, which is thought to have happened on Sunday

afternoon or evening.

Headteacher Paula Holden, described the vandalism as “totally mindless”.

She said: “The children have been very upset by it. When I went to talk to them, they were saying about the naughty children messing up their playground.”

Miss Holden said it was particularly distressing for the young children because they liked continuity and routine.

The damage has caused a lot of disruption in the school as the nursery has been closed off and all the children in reception and nursery moved to the hall. In turn, this means all the students cannot have lunch in the hall and have had to eat in their classrooms.

It is not the first time the school has been the target of vandals.

Yobs have previously written graffiti and smashed up two picnic benches.

Last summer teachers, governors, staff and parents spent hours trying to improve the school’s outdoor area.

Miss Holden said: “Everybody works so hard and then to have that done to your school, it’s very upsetting that somebody in the community can do that. It’s all expense that we can well do without.

“The money that’s going to be spent on that is taking away money that should be used on school resources.”

Police are investigating the incident and visited the school yesterday (MON) to gather evidence.

In an appeal to the community, Miss Holden said someone was bound to have information about the incident as the vandals must have been covered in paint.