Members of the Kelowna cricket community are rattled after their newly renovated cricket pitch at Parkinson Recreation Park was damaged over the weekend. The vandalism, which occurred Saturday evening following a regional tournament, has left players both “extremely disappointed and upset.” Toby Ellis of the Okanagan Valley Cricket Club says the damage appears to have been caused by local youth riding e-bikes across the pitch, burning and scarring the new artificial turf. The pitch had only been completed a week earlier, after the community banded together to install it in time for a major tournament. Ellis says volunteers spent days gluing the surface down, pouring thousands of dollars into the renovation project. According to Ellis, the burn damage isn't just cosmetic—it affects gameplay. “If the ball bounces on the burn mark it can spin the ball wrong. The surface really matters,'' he said. The damage comes at a time when cricket is growing quickly in the Okanagan. “Just the fact that this sport is growing rapidly. When I first moved here eight years ago there were four teams. There is now like 15 in the Okanagan. We took time out of our days to install that pitch and now it’s ruined after one week.” Ellis says he’s reported the incident to police, but without witnesses or security footage, little can be done.