Vandals trashed a community nursery children's Wendy house - then came back and smashed it up again.
Staff at the Priory Family Centre in Lundwood say they are angry and "very very disappointed" by the senseless damage and describe the attack as "like a kick in the teeth".
Carole Aldam, is the service co-ordinator at the service for vulnerable families which is run by the charity Barnardo's.
She said: “We can’t understand who would do this, at any time of year, but especially at Christmas.
"Everything we provide is paid for by donations, we are here to help families, what kind of people would want to attack us and particularly something that children play with.
"These people came and deliberately damaged it, then came back the night after and made it even worse.
Carole said the thieves climbed over a fence and kicked in the front door of the Wendy house.
She said: “They ripped the side door off, broke the window and smashed up some of the things inside.
“Then they came back the next night and broke some more toys, they even broke the little chairs that the children sit in when they are playing and smashed a tiny sweeping brush.
"Everything we do here it to help families who don't have a lot themselves.
"Yet these callous vandals showed no thought, no consideration, what they did was simply heartless and has left a lot of people very disappointed and very angry.
“The nursery garden is used by lots of community groups and there is no charge as all the toys and equipment are paid for by donations, some of which came from people with not a lot of money."
© 2013 Barnsley Chronicle Ltd