Fountains Abbey: Man arrested after vandals graffiti historic building causing ‘considerable damage’
A man has been arrested after Fountains Abbey was vandalised which caused considerable damage to two historic buildings.
North Yorkshire Police has said the damage to Fountains Abbey took place on Saturday (Feb 16), and caused considerable damage.
The graffiti was painted onto the abbey and St Mary's Church.
A picture, released by North Yorkshire Police, shows a paint pot and brush left at the scene at Fountains Abbey with a figure and the words ‘don’t steal drugs’ daubed across the outside wall.
The paint was oil-based meaning considerable damage has been done to the medieval stonework, police said.
The National Trust is now working to restore the building.
Following an appeal for CCTV by police, a man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The arrest took place on Wednesday night (Feb 19) and the man remains in police custody.
In a statement police said: “Thank you to everyone who shared our CCTV appeal yesterday - please can you ensure the CCTV images are removed from all websites and social media accounts.”