A NEW water feature has been vandalised, less than 24 hours after it was installed.

The water feature, which is the focal point of the £3.9m refurbishment of Swindon town centre, had washing-up liquid put in it between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Contractors working on the next phase of the town centre refurbishment in Regent Street noticed the water was foaming when they arrived for work on Thursday morning.

Staff from Forward Swindon, formerly the New Swindon Company, added an anti-foaming agent to the water to stop it happening again.

The £240,000 feature, which is called Crumpled Water Walls, was made out of 1,000 slices of stainless steel. Designer Walter Jack, from Bristol, said he wanted to create something that was a contrast to the formal and rigid lines of steel and glass that feature elsewhere in the town centre.

He said: “It was suggested that we might want to work with water because of the history of there being a canal there.

“The idea was that water is at its best when it’s not being controlled by designers but when you see a natural waterfall or when it’s tumbling over rocks.

“We designed this piece so that it’s much nicer to let the water play over these much more complex surfaces like it does when you see water in a mountain stream. It’s unpredictable.”

He said they had worked with the Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents to ensure the design was safe.

Carol Heneghen, the director of marketing for Forward Swindon, said: “From what we understand a foaming agent was added to the fountain on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, which did cause some foaming.

“However a de-foaming agent has now been added.”

Bill Cotton, the director of economic development for Forward Swindon, added: “The council and Forward Swindon are determined not to let a few idiots spoil it for everyone else.”