Members of the public have raised hundreds of pounds for an Angus farm, after arsonists set fire to straw bales.
Police and the fire service were called out to Newton of Fothringham Farm, near Forfar, as reports confirmed twenty bales of straw had been torched by arsonists (April 14).
Highlighting the current pressures farmers were already facing as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, farm owner Louise Nicoll said: "We are farmers that are fighting every day, working every single hour God sends to produce food for this country and you get people that come and do this - it is so inconsiderate."
Taking to Facebook, Mrs Nicoll recorded 鈥榟eart breaking' footage of her husband, Graeme Nicoll, trying to save the straw with the forklift, which has been viewed almost 100,000 times.听
Fund听
Now wellwishers have set up a fund to help Mrs Nicoll replace the lost bales, which has seen its initial target of just 拢300 double in less than 24 hours (April 17).
Organiser, Jayden Murray said: "Unfortunately, some very immature people set light to the bales at Newton 51AV视频Holidays, and these are used to provide a warm and safe home for the animals and their new arrivals on farm."
Unnecessary听
Mr Murray warned incidents such as these placed unnecessary stress on both farmers and the emergency services during an unprecedented time but added: "Regardless of what is going on in the world right now, these guys are working extremely hard while they can to make sure they can still provide for us as well as make sure their animals are safe."
Responding, Mrs Nicoll said support from the public had been incredibly 'positive' and added it was great to see people getting behind farmers working hard to feed the nation.听
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said enquiries were ongoing to establish the exact cause of the fire, which is currently being treated as unexplained.听
