Vegan vandals damaged rare plants, says Trust
VEGAN activists who painted a slogan on a rock face damaged rare plants, the National Trust has said.
Conservation bosses have hit out at vandals after “Go Vegan” was sprayed on the Avon Gorge in Bristol, Somerset last week.
The cliff has long been a problem spot for graffiti.
But National Trust experts say the vandalism could affect rare plants that grow at the rock face that are not found anywhere else in the world.
Lisa Topham, the charity’s Bristol countryside manager, said tackling graffiti at the gorge had proven problematic as officials try and avoid causing further damage.
She said: “The cracks in that rock are home to the exceptionally rare Bristol rock cress. The people who climbed the face are bound to have trampled and even painted on the plants.
“We can’t risk causing damage removing the paint, so we can’t use chemicals, and using a blaster risks filling the crevices where these rare plants live.
“What they have done isn’t green in any way.”