A GROUP of outdoor swimmers have been left shocked after vandals damaged steps into the River Itchen.

Hampshire Open Water Swimmers worked alongside the Friends of the Itchen Navigation Group to repair dog steps at their beloved local spot. 

But less than 48 hours later they were ripped apart, destroying all the hard work put in by the volunteers. Daily Echo:

A member of the Hampshire Open Water Swimmers group, Rachel Whitfield, was 'devastated' by the news. 

She said: "Some time ago, the council built the set of wooden steps for improved access to the water. 

"But we recently started to notice that the erosion of the banks kept getting worse.

"So, to reverse the damage, we decided to repair river bank erosion as we wanted to play our part in helping to preserve it." Daily Echo:

Rachel, along with other group members, raised over £500 to meet repair costs. 

Overnight they hit the target and the team dived into the restoration task.

However, all their efforts went in vain when someone posted on their Facebook group a picture of the destruction of their conservation work. Daily Echo:

Rachel said: "We were all really shocked to see the pictures. 

"We especially got two logs of timber wood for this project, of which one was missing and the other one was still in the waters.

"There was also graffiti painting on the steps." 

The swimmers have been left wondering why would anyone do this. 

While they are all upset, they are determined to fix the steps again and protect the river banks.

The group will meet at the hub in Bishopstoke to undo the step damage.

They also hope they can highlight the importance of the responsibility they have as swimmers to respect and preserve the local spots we get to enjoy.