GODSTONE'S tranquil Bay Pond has been blighted with used condoms, smashed-in doors and metal-tipped arrows – believed to have been shot at ducks.
Mindless yobs have been causing mayhem at the popular beauty spot.
The month-long wave of unsavoury incidents has prompted a police appeal for the public's help.
Bay Pond is used by school groups for nature studies and is also frequented by dog walkers.
Six metal-tipped arrows have been found on the water – which police believe had been used to try to shoot ducks and swans on the lake.
In addition, a sink was ripped away in the adjoining nature reserve barn, the door to a bird hide smashed in and two pairs of binoculars taken, a toilet block damaged twice and wooden fencing demolished twice. Several used condoms and a syringe have also been found in a barn belonging to the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
Most of the incidents are believed to have taken place in the early evening.
Godstone neighbourhood officer PC Sarah Warner said on Monday: "It's just mindless behaviour.
"Wildlife could be blinded or maimed if they are hit by one of these arrows."
PC Warner said youths with catapults had been seen in the area in the past.
She added: "We know people have been seen hanging around there but people have not notified us.
"Plenty of dog walkers use the paths around Bay Pond.
"They can help by being our eyes and ears on what is going on in and around the site."
She said officers had stepped up patrols there since the new year, particularly in the evenings.
David Millen, Surrey Wildlife Trust's voluntary warden at Bay Pond, said: "More than 1,000 schoolchildren visit the nature reserve here each year and enjoy going pond dipping and hunting for bugs.
"One day last month we found eight used condoms in the barn.
"That, coupled with the incidents of vandalism, affects our running of the centre and is really sad. We are a charity so we have to pay for the repairs out of our own funds."
Mr Millen said Bay Pond and its environs are a beauty spot much-loved by local people.
He added: "Dog walkers are more annoyed than anything about what has gone on."
Mr Millen said the trust plans to install closed-circuit television cameras as well as extra lighting in the near future.
Anyone spotting any suspicious behaviour in the area is urged to call the police on 101, or 999 if it is an emergency.
