THE owner of a popular South Side restaurant has hit out at a vandal who attacked the premises at the weekend.
The Battlefield Rest, located on Battlefield Road, was trashed in the early hours of Sunday morning, with CCTV of the incident showing perspex windbreakers being pulled down outside the front door.
The CCTV footage then shows the doors of the building being kicked in.
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Owner of the Battlefield Rest, Marco Giannasi, said: "The attack took place at 2am on Sunday morning.
"The vandal smashed our door by kicking it and bent a few of the windbreakers that we have in our outdoor eating area.
"This sort of behaviour makes me so angry. This violence for no reason need to go from our society."
Marco, who has owned the well-loved restaurant for more than 25 years, said that the attack was difficult to watch back on CCTV.
He said: "We have people mending and trying to fix the damage that has been done at the moment but it's really upsetting to see someone trying to damage your livelihood.
"This person appears to be a stranger too who has targeted our building for no reason - I'm not even upset, just angry.
"The Battlefield Rest is a symbol of the area and for it to be targeted is really sad to see."
The Battlefield Rest has been using the outdoors seating area since lockdown restrictions permitted customers back into hospitality venues.
The restaurant, like many across the city, was hit with a blow on Friday after it was announced that Glasgow would be remaining in Level Three restrictions, with businesses unable to serve alcohol inside.
Marco said: "We have the outdoor area so we have something to fall back on but I feel really bad for the other owners of places like pubs without outdoor seating who won't be able to open at all.
"After the announcement, we lost around 60% of our indoor bookings, so the outdoor area is important to us. And then you get someone coming along and doing this."
One positive Marco has seen in the result of the attack is the community spirit from customers.
He said: "I put the CCTV video on Twitter and Facebook to really just ask if anyone could help but the response from customers was amazing.
"They have been so supportive, hundreds of people commenting to support us through this, I don't have enough words to say thank you.
"Not only for this incident but the support from locals and customers has been amazing over the past 14 months.
"When we have the support of people when something like this happens, you can feel confident that you can keep going."
Police Scotland have confirmed that they have arrested a man in connection with the incident.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "A 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged vandalism at a restaurant on Battlefield Road, Glasgow, on Sunday May, 16 2021.
"He has been released on an undertaking to appear at court at a later date and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal."
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