HEARTLESS vandals have smashed up a charity building used by disabled children and their parents.

The criminals used a sledgehammer to smash down the door of the Daisy Chain farmhouse, near Stockton, which is used by autistic children.

They then cleaved the heating control panel off the wall, possibly believing it to be an alarm, and went on to tear apart the upstairs rooms.

Matt Simpson, chief executive at The Daisy Chain, rushed to the scene of devastation when it was discovered by his site manager, Michael Parker, at about 6.50am yesterday.

Volunteers and parents have now been informed.

Mr Simpson said: “It’s just gutting – not nice to come in to that mess. There’s a lot of volunteers, parents, people who really commit to this place and it’s just horrible to have to tell them someone’s done this.

“We probably won’t make a big issue of it with the children.

For many of them it will just be too frightening, they’ll immediately be thinking about burglars coming into their own homes and it will be too much for them.”

It is not thought that the vandals stole anything, although rooms were still being checked yesterday. The building, a former farmhouse which was once the main building of the charity, is undergoing renovation and it is thought the criminals may have been looking for copper piping and cables to sell for scrap.

Mr Simpson said: “I can’t think it was anyone with a grievance. We hope and believe we have a good relationship with the entire community.”

He said the farmhouse building was being turned into a resource centre and refuge for parents. Fortunately, the 80 children at the Daisy Chain, in Calf Fallow Lane, Norton, mainly use the £1m centre nearby and were not directly affected.

Police were initially called at about 11.30pm on Sunday when a man operating a nearby railway crossing tower heard four loud smashes.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman confirmed officers had attended the scene and discovered the alarm was sounding but found the gates to the property were closed.

She said: “A thorough search of the area was made and all appeared to be in order.”

Police were called again yesterday morning and inquiries are ongoing.

The Daisy Chain provides the only dedicated centre for autistic children in the UK. It was the vision of Lesley Hanson, who died in 2004 aged 35, and her husband, Duane.

Their son, Jacob, was diagnosed with autism from a young age.