An appeal for witnesses has been launched after the Southport Lifeboat training boat was slashed by vandals.
The craft, which has saved numerous lives over 30 years of service, has now been destroyed and will have to be disposed of.
It was being used on the Marine Lake for training purposes.
A Southport Lifeboat spokesperson said: “Last night at weekly training we were saddened to find that Southport Lifeboat’s ILB training boat had been slashed in several places with a knife.
“Our old inflatable D-Class lifeboat, which was replaced in 2016 by the new ILB ‘Christopher Taylor’, had been stored on a trailer at West Lancashire Sailing Club’s dinghy park at the Marine lake.
“She had helped save lives for almost 30 years in her time with the RNLI and Southport Independent Lifeboat.
“After her retirement from service she was an essential piece of training equipment used for capsize training; which is a fundamental and potentially live-saving part of boat crew knowledge. Sadly, this piece of equipment will now have to be disposed of and this will be solely down to the selfish actions of a mindless vandal.
“We please urge anyone with any information about this crime to report it to Merseyside Police.
“We would like to assure members of the public that our front-line equipment is fully functional and that this thoughtless act will not interfere with our ability to provide a first class rescue service along our coastline.”
Anyone with any information is being urged to call Southport Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
It costs £60,000 to keep Southport Lifeboat functioning all year round. That is no mean task during ordinary times, let alone the extraordinary times we currently find ourselves in.
Southport Lifeboat is funded entirely through public donations, and is independent of the RNLI.
There are other ways you can help the charity continue to save lives, including joining LifeboatLotto or online donations.
For more details about the emergency service, or if you would like to dominate, please visit their website:
http://www.southport-lifeboat.co.uk/
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