close
close

Preston Park: ‘mindless vandals’ destroyed six cherry trees

Posted on by Dsen .N

Six trees on Cherry Tree Avenue in Preston Park, Brighton, were snapped in half on Saturday evening.

Kerry Pickett, chair of the Friends of Preston Park group and Green councilor for Preston Park, told The Argus: “We kind of knew this was going to happen, but it won’t stop us.

“We bought extra trees a while ago, so we hope it will be enough.

“It’s depressing because the park looked really good but we are against it and we will be replanting new trees and trying to see how we can continue to protect them.

One of the broken trees (Photo: Friends of Preston Park)

READ MORE: Shock after the “destruction” of a tree by vandals

“We will overcome this.

“Unfortunately, people who do these kinds of things don’t realize that the park belongs to them too.

“We entered our rose garden in the small park competition and thought we didn’t have to worry so much about the cherries, but unfortunately we were wrong.”

In April 2022, trees in the same place in the same park were targeted.

They were part of a collection of 60 trees, worth more than £8,000 in total, which the Friends of Preston Park group paid for through fundraising from its own members.

Six trees along the path leading to the tennis courts were broken (Photo: Friends of Preston Park)

Cllr Pickett said: “We won’t be able to replace them until the autumn as summer is not a good time to plant trees. The ground will be too dry.”

On Facebook, Jane Baker wrote: “This is a slap in the face to the volunteers and fundraisers who worked so hard to make Cherry Alley possible.”

Hamish McKenna-Coles, from Brighton, added: “The world we live in annoys me every day.”

Tarah Coonan-Joyce said: “What is wrong with people? This makes me very angry. It’s just mindless.”

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of damage to trees in Preston Park.

“The incident is believed to have occurred around 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 7. Anyone with information can report it to Sussex Police online, quoting serial number 280 of October 6.”