Town estate ‘deeply saddened’ by vandal attack on new trees

The Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire with members of the Melton Mowbray Town Estate on his visit to the new trees in Egerton Park in June

A vandal attack on trees planted in a Melton park to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee has left town estate members ‘deeply saddened’.

Over 700 trees were planted in Egerton Park earlier this year with the ultimate aim of helping re-introduce wildlife into the town centre.

Police are investigating the incident and are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

A spokesperson for Melton Mowbray Town Estate said: “We are aware of the damage caused to the trees we planted in Egerton Park that occurred over

the weekend and we are deeply saddened that anyone would choose to destroy fledgling trees in such a manner.

"Our team and board of trustees take pride in our town and work hard to try and make it better for everyone, when these mindless acts of destruction happen we cannot fathom why anyone would want to dampen such a positive impact.

"We do not know the exact number of damaged trees but our team has done what they can with those that survived.”

The trees were heavily subsidised by The Woodland Trust and the town estate were successfully granted the funds to pay for them by Melton Borough Council before spending their own funds on machinery and labour to ensure the trees can survive the current heatwave.

“We're disappointed that a certain group of people do not take into consideration the time, effort, and money multiple organisations took to plan and then plant the trees,” the spokesperson added.

Back in June, Her Majesty’s Leicestershire representative, the Lord Lieutenant Mr Mike Kapur OBE, visited Melton to view the trees and plant the town’s official Platinum Jubilee Tree in Egerton Park.