CRICKET facilities used by numerous teams and the wider Barkerend community have been wrecked when vandals tore up the pitch with a 4x4, threw oil on a memorial stone and even stole the wheels from a side screen.

The damage was caused at the Jinnah Arena, cricket facilities at the Karmand Community Centre on Barkerend Road, overnight on Friday.

The group behind the cricket club say they are “devastated” by the damage, and fear repairs, such as re-laying the pitches, may cost thousands of pounds.

Four senior cricket teams use the facilities, as well as several junior teams and local schools.

Police have now appealed for anyone with information about the incident, which they think happened between 11.59pm on Friday and 8am on Saturday, to come forward.

On Saturday morning, groundskeepers found that a vehicles had driven over the pitch, leaving deep grooves, that fences had been broken and oil thrown on a memorial stone to Pal Singh Panesar, a board member of the community centre who died before the pavilion was built.

The group decided to honour his memory with the stone, which has been left stained and requiring a deep clean.

The group responsible for the damage even lifted up the heavy side screen and removed the wheels.

The pitch is part of a £1 million sports complex that opened in 2010, and there are fears that the damage may cost so much to repair that it could threaten the next cricket season.

Nasa Hussain, who manages the ground, said: “This has ruined a lot of hard work we have put in to create this facility.

“It is a real community asset. We want children to come here and play cricket to help get them off the streets. It will cost thousands to get it back to what it was. We’re absolutely devastated.

“They’ve driven around the cricket ground and reversed their vehicle into a fence. It all looks very deliberate - they even took the wheels from the side screens. It looks like they wanted to cause as much damage as possible.

“They even targeted the memorial stone. Why would anyone want to do that?

“It is a small minority of people who spoil it for the majority. It has taken a lot of hard work to get to where we are, and it doesn’t take a lot to unravel it.”

Mohammed Shakeel, project manager for the ground, said: “The risk is we might not be ready for the next season in March.

“It might not be repaired in time, and we might not have the funds to repair it.

“It the repair bill goes into the thousands we might have to start looking at fundraising.”

West Yorkshire Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.