A WOMAN has suffered a spate of unusual vandalism at her historic cottage – the theft of huge clumps of thatched roof by jackdaws.

Grandmother Lucy Dillistone said the problem at her 17th century semi-detached home in Uffington, near Wantage, was unheard of.

She contacted three thatchers and emailed them photos of the damage.

But each one of them said they had never seen or heard of anything like it before.

Mrs Dillistone, who moved into her three-bedroom property on the village’s High Street three years ago, initially thought the loose straw that began appearing on her roof and garden had come from passing farm vehicles.

The 74-year-old said: “I thought it had blown off the farm carts that go past my house.

“But gradually I began seeing more and more.

“I noticed some jackdaws hanging about. It was only after creeping downstairs at 5.30am in my dressing gown, that I confirmed they were behind the problem.

“I saw about five of them.

“However, they didn’t stay long enough for me to observe what exactly they were doing.”

Mrs Dillistone, a retired medical research assistant, said the roof had to be re-thatched, costing about £16,000, a year before moving to the village .

Now she has called upon the experts to solve the problem.

Her surveyor recommended the Bardsley and Brown thatching firm, based in Newbury.

Owner and master thatcher Barney Bardsley, 60, said: “It’s very unusual.

“I have come across about four occasions where woodpeckers have attacked roofs, but I have never seen anything like this.

“The extent of the damage that has been done is a total mystery.”

One theory surrounding the cause of the problem was that when the roof was re-thatched it may have contained grubs which jackdaws eat.”

Mrs Dillistone said: “It’s all rather mystifying. Nobody knows why this is happening or quite what to do about it.

“It has been getting worse and something has to be done about it. I cannot just let it carry on.”

Mr Bardsley said he planned to take netting off the roof, clear any loose straw, repair the large craters caused by the jackdaws, fill in the holes and put the netting back as tightly as possible., hoping this would hold the thatch in place.

He said: “Because I have never seen this before, it really is a case of ‘suck it and see’.”