Repairs Begin After Mindless Vandalism ; 'It May Be Too Late to Replant This Year'

Summary

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VANDALS who sawed through trees planted in memory of a villager at a Pill nature reserve have been condemned as "mindless". The damage to the trees at Pearl's Patch, next to the St George's Flower Bank, was discovered on Monday. The vandals had sawn through about nine of the 20ft trees at the reserve on the verge of the A369, leaving stumps of about a foot high. The 150 trees were planted in 2000 as part of a project for the . Millennium and a number were planted in memory of local villager Pearl Painton, well known in the village for her work for the local scouts and the Wildlife Trust.

The flower bank, which is a wild flower meadow, was launched 20 years ago and is managed by a team of about 10 volunteers. St George's Flower Bank spokesman Bob Buck said the vandalism had devastated volunteers. Mr Buck, a pensioner, said: "A lot of work has gone into planting the trees which form part of the flower bank and nature reserve. The flower bank and the trees give a lot of pleasure to local people and it is very upsetting to see they have been damaged in this way. "It is just sheer, utter, mindless vandalism. "The trees that have been damaged were good, sturdy trees and they have now been sawn through, leaving a stump of about a foot high. "We have reported the damage to police and are appealing to anyone who may have seen people acting suspiciously in the area to contact them.

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Repairs Begin After Mindless Vandalism ; 'It May Be Too Late to Replant This Year'

"The A369 is a very busy road and it wasn't a five-minute job a...

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