Satanic symbol baffles bowlers

THE pentangle made of bricks

SINISTER markings have led to fears of vandals indulging in devil worship in Shaw.

Shaw Comrades Bowling Club has suffered an unusual attack of vandalism that has left bowlers scratching their heads as to who was behind it and what it means.

Someone sneaked on to the green, off Refuge Street, on Sunday and using patio flagstones constructed an eight-sided structure with a pentangle of bricks in the middle.

The pentangle is a five-pointed star traditionally associated with black magic.

And in a final, macabre twist, a pair of overalls were stuffed with grass or paper to look like a body.

Some people have queried whether the site of the green was once a burial ground and whether this might have some significance.

It is the first vandalism the club has suffered in five years. And while the damage was not huge, the bowling green was still impaired, leaving club officials in a race to get it reasonably presentable for a game last night.

Club chairman David Valentine said: “The people who actually did this vandalism must have a degree in art.

“They did not throw bricks or anything daft like that, but they arranged an eight-sided figure of 2x2 flags and in the middle made a star with bricks.

“It’s quite a geometric configuration. It’s the most picturesque of graffiti, so one of them had imagination.

“And a blue boiler suit has been stuffed with something, and then a false head put on it like Guy Fawkes, and propped up on the structure.

“Sinister is the correct word for it. I have been racking my brain, asking myself if have they got anything against this club.

“There are no footprints on the green or wheel marks but the flags are not light. We will have to reseed some of the green.”

The green was saved, when developers demolished the Osram Social Club five years ago. But officials have been left frustrated that European section 106 money from the developers has still not been spent on their facilities and have asked councillors to sort out the matter.