The Sheffield Telegraph has reported that up to 50 young trees have been destroyed by mindless vandals.
The young saplings were planted to replace mature street trees axed by the council.
In the wake of vandalism, Sheffield Council has condemned the yobs and urged people to nurture young saplings.
The Woodland Trust has said the incident ‘shows the folly’ of removing thousands of trees under the Streets Ahead programme.
A spokesman for Streets Ahead said: “Over the last two weeks more than 50 newly planted trees have been vandalised in the Gleadless area.
“This mindless vandalism is extremely disappointing as we are delivering our commitment to maintaining and improving the quality of trees across the city.
“We’d like to reassure residents that all vandalised and damaged trees will be replanted in the next planting season, which will begin in November.
“We urge people to help us care for the new trees being planted across the city. By acting together to care and nurture them we will ensure that we remain Britain’s greenest city.”
Nick Sandford, of The Woodland Trust, said more trees should be planted – and they should be better protected.
He added: “This incident shows the folly of removing thousands of mature street trees, many of them healthy, and questions whether the replacement planting programme is adequate.
“We have called for at least two or three new trees to be planted to replace every one removed and the latest damage to trees shows clearly why this is important.
“We would ask Amey to consider providing a different sort of protection for newly planted trees so that they can’t be vandalised in this way.”
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Image courtesy of The Sheffield Telegraph
