A vandal set fire to one of the scarecrows put out on Main Street during TEAM Jaffrey’s Scarecrows on the Common event Oct. 7.

According to Jaffrey Police, the department was notified that a scarecrow was on fire Sunday at about 10 p.m. The police located the scarecrow and extinguished the fire.

On Monday, the TEAM Jaffrey Facebook page posted a photo of the scarecrow, which has a large portion of its hay stuffing around the middle charred.

“Is the burning of a scarecrow unfortunate? Absolutely. Lots of work and effort went into creating this scarecrow (and the event). I feel for the people who had a great day building their scarecrow, just to have it destroyed. Thankfully, it was caught and handled quickly,” TEAM Jaffrey’s post reads.

According to the post, the scarecrow chosen was on the section of Main Street directly in front of the Jaffrey Police Department, and was caught on camera.

TEAM Jaffrey wrote that rather than pursue criminal charges against the vandal, it would accept taking responsibility in the form of participating in TEAM Jaffrey’s scheduled day to take down and dismantle the dozens of scarecrows made by the community, a volunteer day usually done with local Scout troops.

“All they have to do is show up. No judgment,” the post read. TEAM Jaffrey will post the date of the cleanup day on its Facebook page.

TEAM Jaffrey has attempted to reach out to the people who built the scarecrow that was burned, and offered the materials and supplies needed to rebuild if they wish. If the person who built the scarecrow would like the supplies, contact TEAM Jaffrey at 603-532-7168 or teamjaffreynh@gmail.com.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.