Hundreds of trees at Charnwood Water have been relocated following a series of mis-tree-tments and thefts.
Charnwood Borough Council is “extre[e]mely disappointed” at the reports of vandalism and tree-sonous thefts of 360 saplings.
Volunteers helped the Council’s open spaces partner Ideverde to plant 560 trees at the open space last year and most of them have either been “damaged or ripped-up”. The trees had been donated by The Conservation Volunteers Charity.
The Council will “continue to work” with its partners and the police to tackle the s-tree-k of vandalism, and to identify those involved.
Cllr Jenny Bokor, lead member for open spaces in Charnwood said: “This is incredibly disappointing. The trees had kindly been donated by The Conservation Volunteers Charity and it is a huge shame for members of the community who volunteered their time to help plant the trees.
“Regardless of whether people agree with the trees being there or not, there is no justification for this mindless vandalism. This is not the first time that trees have been vandalised at Charnwood Water. As such we have reported the incidences to the police”.
The Council has said that this tree-chery is not acceptable; “We take pride in our open spaces and want to increase the number of trees in the borough. However, it’s being made extremely difficult when we’re constantly battling with vandalism or theft.”
Charnwood Borough Council is committed to improving its open spaces which includes a pledge to see a tree-mendous 100,000 trees planted in the borough by 2024.
If you know anything about the ex-tree-me acts against these trees, the Council is urging people to contact the police on the non-emergency number 111.
