Mindless yobs smashed up more than 20 sheds at a tranquil Plymouth allotments in an attack described as “sheer vandalism”.

Plots belonging to an elderly widow and a gardener aged in his 80s were among those targeted at the Southway Lane site in Tamerton Foliot.

Police are now hunting the culprits, who daubed the name ‘Webby’ and the tag ‘HDR’ – a possible acronym for notorious city gang the Honicknowle Defence Regiment – inside one damaged shed.

Furious allotment holders are now hard at work helping each other to replace wooden doors and locate tools the vandals scattered around the site.

Frank Fry, from Roborough, who was one of the first to come across the mess on Sunday, said nothing had been taken.

“They’ve just trashed it really,” the 67-year-old said. “It’s just sheer vandalism and you can’t find any logic to it.

“This is our hobby, and we didn’t ask for this.

“It is, for want of a better word, mindless.”

It is unclear how the vandals accessed the secure allotments, which are tucked away up a quiet country lane.

But green-fingered gardeners clearing up yesterday said they believed the group had scaled the perimeter fence, then used metal bars to attack the sheds.

In total, 22 of the site’s 38 plots were damaged.

The trail of destruction left behind included ransacked personal possessions, damaged plants and even a broken bird box, left smashed on the ground with its nest still inside.

A whiteboard inside one of the sheds was found with “Webby ov HDR” scrawled on it in green pen.

The allotment holders have yet to put a price on the damage, but say it is likely to run into hundreds of pounds.

Southway Lane Allotments Association chairman John Gooch, 65, said: “They’ve really trashed the place – and we can’t afford to replace all this stuff.

“They didn’t take any valuable tools or anything, just threw them around. All that’s missing is my tea money.

“The police said it looked like it was a gang and that it was turf war (sic),” he added. “But what have we done to anyone?”

The criminal damage is the first significant incident at the allotments since 1999, when several sheds were destroyed by arsonists in a mini-spate of attacks.

The plot won best allotment site at the Plymouth in Bloom awards two years ago, and had recently come third in a city-wide competition.

Plot holder Chris Tozer, 56, from Southway, said: “This won’t deter us. We’ll carry on.

“We all muck in and help each other out.

“But I just don’t understand it. Doing this is just completely pointless.”

Police say the incident happened sometime overnight between 9pm on February 4 and 7am the next morning.

If you can assist investigators, contact them on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number EL/12/561.