Readers were appalled by the "shameless" behaviour of suspected thieves who destroyed chairs from a popular restaurant.
Riley's Fish Shack, on King Edward's Bay, Tynemouth, reported the theft of 10 chairs from a storage unit late on Saturday night, which they said had been set on fire towards the South end of the beach.
After we reported on the damage on Sunday, our readers expressed their disgust on Facebook.
Catherine Romanis Richards wrote: "So disappointed that this has happened. You offer a really unique service to us all and this is how you are repaid. Bad enough they were taken but why set them on fire? Wanton vandalism at its finest."
Liz Myers-Tonks said: "There's a lot of mindless jealous people out there who hate to see people getting on and doing well for themselves, hope they get caught and named and shamed."
Elisa Szlobodnick added: "Trying to run a business and make something nice for the area, and people have to spoil it."
And Gail Hicks said: "There's always some that need to spoil it for others."
Paul Robinson labelled it: "Shameful behaviour!"
Yesterday, founder Adam Riley spoke of his "anger" after the thoughtless attack.
He said: "Who knows what goes through the minds of people who do things like this. Unfortunately for us, it's quite damaging to our business.
"I would urge anyone who has information about the incident to contact the police."
Despite the damage, Riley's did a roaring trade on Easter Sunday, with people braving queues stretching up the slope towards Tynemouth to sample their Riley's Fish Shack up for top accolade at first ever World Restaurant Awards
Many fans of the fish shack sent the the business their support after a £200 reward was offered for anyone who could help find the arsonists in a post on the restaurant's Facebook page..
Many described the culprits as "disgusting" and "shameful", and labelled them "mindless idiots".
One woman asked: "What kick do they get out of doing such rotten things?"
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Riley's Fish Shack up for top accolade at first ever World Restaurant Awards
