Nethy Bothy graffiti had Pine Marten family in a rage!
A graffiti attack on a favourite old Strathspey bothy enraged a local man so much that he decided to do something about it – and quick.
The owner of Glenmore's Pine Marten Bar told the Strathy: "When I saw it I got the rage. It was just....I mean who the hell would do such a thing?"
Scott Fleming explained: "I knew that the longer it was left the harder it would be to get rid of, so on Sunday I just had a word with my team and decided to go up there and clean it.
"My partner Kate (Jachacy) and the team were tremendous in keeping the business going while I went up there for a couple of hours. It was all a team effort."
It wasn't just vandals that he had to deal with. Scotty confessed: "It was tougher than I'd thought as the place was overrun with midges. I mean, overrun! Fortunately I had a net with me, but they got just everywhere, right under my shirt. They were hell, but I was determined because the vandals had got further - under my skin!"
"We're so impressed with Scotty and his team," said Jess Tomes, visitor operations site manager at the RSPB Abernethy reserve, which is home to the bothy. "And the Mountain Bothies Association, which maintains the place for everybody's benefit, also want to thank Scotty and his people for doing such a great job this week.
"The graffiti had caused so much distress to a lot of people and it was going to be some days before one of our wardens was going to be able to find the time to get out there and clean it off.
"Scotty and his team took it upon themselves to deal with the problem and it's fantastic to see people doing that for what is after all a fairly remote building.
"The story shows just how much pride local people take in the area – it shows the good rather than the bad, and the story isn’t the graffiti, but the actions Scotty and his team took to put it right."
