Members of the group’s archaeology section came across a seven-inch hole which they believe had been drilled into a supporting stone of the dolmen at the La Pouquelaye de Faldouet site – a Neolithic passage grave around 6,000 years old. The hole – of equal width and depth – appeared to have been created to extract quartz crystals, according to the team.
The president of the Société, Alastair Best, said that ‘all the evidence points to deliberate criminal damage’ at the site, adding that nearby residents who reported hearing noises that night had been asked to inform the police and to be on the look-out for ‘any suspicious activity’ in future.
Then, just six days later, fresh graffiti was found on the stones of the Monts Grantez dolmen, a site of similar age and importance to Faldouet.
Anyone who may have any information relating to either incident is being asked to get in touch with the Société or to contact the police.
Nicolette Westwood, chairman of the archaeology section, added: ‘People wouldn’t go around chopping pieces out of churches and whoever did this must be extremely selfish. It could affect the structural integrity of the stone.’
The Société Jersiaise was founded in January 1873 by a small group of Islanders interested in the study of the Island’s history, language and antiquities. Mr Best said it was a shame that the monuments – both of which are legally protected as scheduled sites of archaeological importance – had received ‘negative attention and vandalism’.
