A model railway at a Scottish tourist attraction has been destroyed during a break-in and deliberate fire.
The ‘O’ Gauge model railway layout was housed within a train carriage at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Heritage Railway, operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society.
Operated by the Bo'ness Gauge O Group, the model layout had been put together by a team of enthusiasts over the past 30 years.
The incident saw much of the model rolling stock damaged or stolen, along with countless other items.
After the alarm was raised around 7am on Sunday, a small fire at the railway yard was extinguished by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
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Police enquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible.
Inspector David Black said: “The carriages are maintained by a team including many volunteers who work tirelessly to keep these carriages running and are a popular tourist attraction.
“We are appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area of the railway yard, particularly around 2am, where it's been reported two men were acting suspiciously in the area.
The first man is described aged late twenties to early forties, large build, between 5ft 8 and 6 ft tall, clean shaven. He was wearing dark glasses, baseball cap, dark top and bottoms, dark New Balance trainers and was carrying a shoulder bag that was worn across his body.
The second man is described as white, aged late twenties to early forties, slim build, 5ft 8 to 6ft tall and clean shaven. He was wearing a dark jacket, dark shoulder bag on one shoulder, dark hat with white writing, dark joggers and grey trainers.
“If you saw the anything significant around this location then please get in touch.
“We are also asking people to check their private CCTV and dash-cams to see if there is footage that could assist with our enquiries.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1043 of Sunday, 19 May, 2024, or make a call anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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