AN attack on a Co Tyrone GAA club, which saw a life-saving defibrillator destroyed, has been branded "despicable".
Vandals broke a window to access St Macartan's GAC Club on Gargadis Road in Trillick before a defibrillator was removed from the wall and damaged.
Police said the attack happened sometime between midnight on Friday, February 24 and 11am on Saturday, February 25.
A club spokesman branded the attack "malicious and abhorrent", and appealed for anyone who saw suspicious activity to come forward.
The club is the second GAA premises to be targeted recently.
St Enda's GAC in Omagh was broken into early last week and ransacked. Money and alcohol was taken. It is believed drilling equipment was used to dislodge safes from the wall, while a smoke alarm and fire extinguisher were also removed and damaged.
Speaking about the St Maccartan's incident, the SDLP's Daniel McCrossan said he was "absolutely furious".
"The idiots responsible targeted life saving equipment, a defibrillator which was badly damaged and thrown around the grounds," he said.
"This was a reckless act of selfishness and thuggery, clearly taking no notice of the importance of such equipment to save someone's life at a very critical moment."
Sinn Féin's Barry McElduff described the destruction of the defibrillator as "despicable".
"Defibrillators literally provide a life-saving service to the local community and this disgraceful vandalism has taken away that service," he said.
"GAA clubs are the backbone of many communities, particularly in rural areas and attacks and vandalism like this are attacks on the community. I would encourage anyone with information on this incident to bring it forward to the PSNI."
