HORRIFIED parishioners have been left with a £10,000 bill after vandals smashed the windows of Bicester's oldest building.

The Victorian painted windows of St Edburg's Church were targeted by criminals who clambered 20ft up scaffolding before inflicting the damage.

Protective mesh across the windows appears to have been kicked until it bowed and panels in the windows were shattered leaving broken glass littering the inside of the church.

St Edburg's Church warden Matthew Clements said: "Church members are shocked, horrified and appalled. They gaze at the damage in disbelief.

"Most cannot grasp the very idea that someone should get pleasure from such a wanton act of destruction, and actually feel personally attacked by it.

"The idea that someone should stand up there and deliberately kick the two windows some 20 or 30 times to cause this damage is incomprehensible."

The church, off Church Street, is undergoing stonework repairs and scaffolding was put up just a few days prior to the crime, which happened between midnight and 10am on Thursday, June 29.

Thames Valley Police said it was believed that the damage was inflicted by burglars attempting to get into the church through the broken window.

But parishioners now believe it was simply vandalism as there was no attempt to remove the mesh cover across the windows.

Mr Clements believes there were three people involved and they climbed a construction fence around the scaffolding before clambering up to the windows.

He said the damage, which it is believed will cost about £10,000 to fix, has destroyed the protective mesh, pushed out a number of pieces from the painted windows and a seriously damaged a whole panel on one side which then fell 20ft inside the church.

Team vicar for Launton and Bucknell Becky Mathew said: "I am really saddened to go into St Edburg's Church and see the painted glass in the west window has been damaged.

"There is an angel that's been kicked out and you can see at the top an entire panel has been forced out of it's frame.

"The glass is from the Victorian period and is protected by wire, so it's taken some force to do this damage.

"This is a beautiful and ancient building that means so much to so many."

St Edburg's Church dates back more than 900 years, and the existing building is the only Grade I listed building in Bicester.

Mr Clements added: "The immediate reaction is one of anger, which becomes puzzlement that people should want to do this, and then it becomes sadness that there are people who get their enjoyment in this way.

"It was nothing more than wanton vandalism of the most pointless nature."

Police said no arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

Anyone with information on the burglary should contact officers by calling 101