Local news
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 5:17 am
This was in our local paper last night. Its such a shame some kids are not taught just how beautiful and amzing nature can be:-1 I used to live near this park when i was little, and remember going there to feed the ducks and cath sticklebacks. I remember the tree and always loved seeing it:mad: You have to click on the pic to get a better view.
A majestic 80ft monkey puzzle tree has been reduced to cinders after vandals struck at Sunderland's Barnes Park.
Upset residents contacted the Echo after they discovered the charred remains of what was "the most beautiful tree in the park" – now just a trunk and a few spindly branches.
One neighbour said: "It looks like someone has set fire to it which is such a shame as it must have been a couple of hundred years old.
"It was such a beautiful tree and I can't believe someone would want to vandalise it like that. Everyone is disgusted.
"It's going to be a big miss in the park. It was huge, you couldn't miss it. It was a prime example of a monkey puzzle tree."
A spokeswoman for Tyne and Wear Rescue Service said that a call was received at about 6.45pm on Bonfire Night.
Peter High, head of Environmental Services at Sunderland Council, said: "It is extremely sad that the monkey puzzle tree was severely damaged by fire in what seems to be an act of wanton vandalism. We have had to take down what was left as a safety measure.
"We believe the tree was one of the original trees planted when the Barnes Park was first established in 1910.
"Unfortunately, as it was a very mature tree we can't simply replace it and return everything to the way it was.
A majestic 80ft monkey puzzle tree has been reduced to cinders after vandals struck at Sunderland's Barnes Park.
Upset residents contacted the Echo after they discovered the charred remains of what was "the most beautiful tree in the park" – now just a trunk and a few spindly branches.
One neighbour said: "It looks like someone has set fire to it which is such a shame as it must have been a couple of hundred years old.
"It was such a beautiful tree and I can't believe someone would want to vandalise it like that. Everyone is disgusted.
"It's going to be a big miss in the park. It was huge, you couldn't miss it. It was a prime example of a monkey puzzle tree."
A spokeswoman for Tyne and Wear Rescue Service said that a call was received at about 6.45pm on Bonfire Night.
Peter High, head of Environmental Services at Sunderland Council, said: "It is extremely sad that the monkey puzzle tree was severely damaged by fire in what seems to be an act of wanton vandalism. We have had to take down what was left as a safety measure.
"We believe the tree was one of the original trees planted when the Barnes Park was first established in 1910.
"Unfortunately, as it was a very mature tree we can't simply replace it and return everything to the way it was.