Trump Turnberry Hotel has described vandalism on the Ayrshire golf resort by a pro-Palestine group as a “childish, criminal act”.

Palestine Action posted photographs on social media showing red paint daubed across one of the buildings with the words “Gaza is not 4 sale” sprayed across one green. Another green appears to have been dug up and a decorative lamppost was damaged.

Police Scotland said it is investigating the incident.

A spokesman for Trump Turnberry said: “This was a childish, criminal act but the incredible team at Trump Turnberry will ensure it does not impact business. 

“Turnberry is a national treasure and will continue to be the number one beacon of luxury and excellence in the world of golf.”

The action appears to have been in response to President Trump’s plan to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and develop it into a resort. He proposed that Palestinians should be taken in by neighbouring nations, which they have rejected.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said during a joint conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.

The Turnberry resort underwent a massive refurbishment after Mr Trump bought it from a Dubai-based company in 2014.

The hotel has hosted The Open Championship four times, including in 1977 when Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus in what famously became known as the “Duel In The Sun”.

However, it has not been included on the Open schedule since Trump acquired it.

It became the organisation’s second golf resort in Scotland after opening a course north of Aberdeen in 2012,

Palestine Action describes itself as a “direct action network dismantling British complicity with Israeli apartheid”.

A statement from the group said: “Palestine Action rejects Donald Trump’s treatment of Gaza as though it were his property to dispose of as he likes.

“To make that clear, we have shown him that his own property is not safe from acts of resistance. We will continue to take action against US-Israeli colonialism in the Palestinian homeland.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 04:40 on Saturday 8 March 2025 we received a report of damage to the golf course and a premises on Maidens Road, Turnberry.”

Protests spread

Palestine supporters have been active in Scotland with a raucous group protesting outside Bute House in Edinburgh last July when the newly-elected Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visited First Minister John Swinney.

The group has been particularly active against arms companies across the UK, and has become more organised in how it marshals activists.

According to The Sunday Times, training days are held for members in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow where supporters are advised on how to take direct action, such as “with an efficient sledgehammer in your hand”.

Last month, masked Palestine Action activists broke into the Buckinghamshire headquarters of the British engineering firm Martin-Baker. It has also targeted UAV Engines in Shenstone, UAV Tactical Systems in Leicester, and factory facilities in Bristol.

Some activists have been arrested under section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, making it an offence to be part of an organised crime group. In other cases anti-terrorism laws have been used.

Among those who have been convicted are a professional artist, a care worker, a data consultant.