Tree is ‘likely to perish’ after vandals strip bark
Community outraged after ‘mindless idiots’ strike in park
Mindless vandals who stripped a tree of its bark and carved into its trunk are likely to have killed it, officials say.
Tovil parish councillor Angela Sinclair discovered the vandalism to an Indian bean tree in South Park, Maidstone, last Wednesday.
The 63-year-old said: “I volunteer at a nature reserve so stuff like this is a slap in the face.
“I’ve sent photos to Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) as well to report damage.”
A spokesman for the authority said: “It is sad to see that this tree is now likely to perish.
“The damage caused to the tree is a criminal offence and we will make Kent Police aware of the incident.
“The vast majority of park users are responsible and value the Maidstone parks and the natural environment. If anyone should witness dangerous and anti-social behaviours they should contact police.”
Reacting to pictures of the tree
shared on Facebook, commenter Belinda Hopkins said: “Mindless idiots, I don’t understand what pleasure they get from destruction.”
David Mersh said: “They would have needed a knife to do that, probably one that would be classed as an offensive weapon.
I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Ian Taylor said: “Somebody must be sick in the head to waste so much time doing something so pointless.”
While a clearly disgusted Mark Deakin commented of the situation: “Awful, I love how much
foliage is in South Park. Some people are idiots.” Lee Garrett said he had seen similar damage done to trees in Mote Park, Hastings Road and other roads in Shepway where there used be flowering cherry trees, and suspected the same vandals were behind it.