A rare diesel locomotive, used to pull the last train out of Cahirciveen almost 50 years ago, has been vandalised beyond repair.
The locomotive was returned to Cahirciveen, Co Kerry, from Belfast in 1997 as a centrepiece of tourist attractions which include a barracks heritage centre and marina.
Yesterday, the door of the engine was open and beer bottles and cans littered the floor. Windows were smashed as were the engine dials. The walls were covered with graffiti.
Gardaí said the vandalism had taken place over a period of time, beginning with a fire shortly after it was restored.
The locomotive was meant to commemorate the era of the railway in Cahirciveen (1893-1960). Yesterday a spokesman at ACARD Ltd, the local community organisation principally involved, said the plans now were to scrap the engine. There had been no maintenance programme and, in hindsight, the engine should have been enclosed, he said.
A proposal to tow the engine to Kells and to set it alongside an old signal cabin on the main Ring of Kerry road was likely to prove too costly - it would cost about €6,000 to transport it the six miles to Kells. Details of the cost of transporting it from Belfast and of restoring it were not available yesterday.