TWO girls have written a thank-you letter to a woman who anonymously donated £1,500 towards replacing a vandalised outdoor classroom.

On the evening of October 3, three youths broke into the grounds of Painters Ash School in Masefield Road, Northfleet, and slashed a new outdoor classroom, which was built in the shape of a tepee.

The vandals also smashed a window, a bird table and a plant pot.

Deputy headteacher Glen Pollard said: “We were really devastated. It was ripped and wrecked, it was not nice at all.

“The children were lost for words, it was a new area for them.”

A tepee classroom was chosen by the children because Indian princess Pocahontas is buried in the grounds of St George’s Church, Church Street, Gravesend.

In order to replace the classroom, the school needed to raise £3,500 and after an appeal on a local radio station, a lady anonymously donated £1,500.

In a phone call to the school it was revealed the woman had been left the money in a will and had been waiting for a deserving cause to donate the money to.

Year 6 pupils Megan Stone and Emma Ward have written a letter thanking the lady.

In the letter they said: “All our hopes were raised when we heard a special woman had anonymously donated an enormous £1,500.

“We do not know who this woman is, but we know she lives in Crayford. It was a second chance for all of us.”

The classroom had been built on the site of the school’s old swimming pool and had been in place for only two weeks when the vandals struck. The children had been using it for PE, drama and other subjects.

Northfleet Councillor Leslie Christie was also thanked in the letter for his donation of £1,500 which came from Kent County Council funds.

Lafarge Cement was also thanked for its donation of £300.

The girls also wrote: “When our headteacher told us the outdoor classroom would be fixed we were delighted.

“We knew we would be playing in the outdoor classroom in no time. We are well and truly thankful for the generous donations.”

Mr Pollard said the company which supplied the classroom have discounted the replacement classroom by £500 and so the rest of the money will be used to fix the other items which were vandalised.

The deputy added: “It is fantastic and makes you realise there are still genuinely nice people out there. The donations are very much appreciated and will enable us to get the classroom up and running far quicker than we would be able to.”