A GLASGOW bar struggling during Covid has revealed it will have to pay out around £1000 to replace a smashed window, after mindless vandals targeted the premises earlier this week.

Staff at Lauders have been left "heartbroken" by the callous act, which saw bricks thrown through the glass bays of the Sauchiehall Street pub in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Mark Finnigan, Assistant Manager, said: "The staff especially are hurt, given all the recent restrictions. They’re struggling enough as it is.

"They feel a bit heartbroken and upset about it. We are a tight team so it feels personal when something like this happens. We just want to get back to work."

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Bosses say the brazen culprits looked as though they were filming the incident and took pictures of themselves in front of the CCTV cameras before launching the attack.

Mark said: "They had spent a good 10 minutes or so outside the pub before they picked up the brick and launched it through our window.

“I don’t know if it was planned or not, but I don’t know anybody would do this right now.

“As a rough estimate, we will need to fork out around £1000 to get it replaced. We’ll need to get a joiner to come in too to scale it up. We’re lucky that we are part of a company so we have internal work people to repair our damages, but it still isn’t ideal.

“It has been really disheartening to think someone would do this right now. Hospitality is only one of the industries to get hammered at the moment from the coronavirus pandemic."

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Lauders has remained closed under recent coronavirus restrictions with all staff placed on furlough. 

Mark added: "I don’t know what they were thinking or what they were up to, doing this during a lockdown when businesses are struggling already. 

“It still wouldn’t acceptable if we were open for trade and there were drunk people out and about, but it would be more understandable. It’s mind-boggling, really.

“I would just like to understand what the motive was behind the attack. You just wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. The last thing any business needs right now is vandalism, we’re struggling enough as it is.”

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A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We received a report of vandalism at a premises on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, in the early hours of Wednesday, February 3.

"Enquiries into the incident are ongoing."

In January, we told how two vandals targeted The Pizza Machine in Merchant City. 

The culprits came forward to pay £1000 worth of damages after being caught in the act on CCTV.