An Andover charity has suffered vandalism, just days after a kind donation.
Andover Trees United manages Harmony Woods, a 10-year project which involves local children in the transformation of 12 acres of land into a natural urban woodland.
On Saturday or Sunday a Cherry Tree which was kindly donated by a local family and then planted a team of young footballers on Saturday (24th October 2002) has had it’s limbs torn off.
The local charity says it is dismayed and disappointed that Harmony Woods “repeatedly suffers careless vandalism and it is very disheartening to see”.
The team at Harmony Woods near Enham Alamein says they are saddened, “After all of the time, love and care that is given to this community woodland”.
The charity continue to provide opportunities to help the environment, this includes a personal tree planting activity on Saturday 14th November. It also comes as the charity has created a pledge to plant a further 1,000 native trees.
Alex Marshall from the charity told Andover Radio, “Although we’ve experienced a fair amount of damage to property over the years, it’s only over the past few months that we’ve seen the damage done to trees, and this does seem to be escalating. It is now a weekly occurrence.
“We doubt very much that the perpetrators will have thought about the consequences of their actions, but it is particularly upsetting knowing how many hours will have gone into digging up the tree, pushing it from Augusta Park to the woods on a trolley, digging the huge hole that was needed before it could be replanted only for this effort to be met with such deliberate destruction. “
Regarding the latest mindless attack, Alex says, “This lovely tree, donated for all to enjoy, will hopefully survive but it is soul-destroying to see the trees that have been planted by the children of the town now being threatened by a small group of unthinking individuals.”
The charity which teaches care for our environment while providing opportunities for volunteering, training and enhanced well-being adds, “We ask the whole community to do what they can to protect this lovely community wood and to help ensure that this recent spate of vandalism does not continue.”
Andover Trees United’s ‘Tree Planting Fortnight’ which takes place annually during the last two weeks of November, is part of the community woodland initiative which aims to connect school children and the wider community with the natural world while improving the environment and creating a vital habitat for wildlife.
Find out more about Andover Trees United by clicking here.
