The district council has vowed to do what it can to replace trees damaged in a "senseless" act of vandalism in a public park.

Nine young trees were all but snapped off by persons unknown in Victoria Park, Ivybridge, the oldest park in South Hams District Council’s jurisdiction.

The act caused outrage in the town with residents, the police and town and district councillors lining up to condemn the culprits.

Now SHDC has spoken out. Chairman and Ivybridge East ward member Cllr Kathy Cuthbert said: “This is a heartbreaking situation, I was stunned to see this devastation, it is so senseless.

"With public money being so thin on the ground these days, we were lucky to be given some money to support Victoria Park. This money has now been wasted.

"These park spaces are so important to our communities and working with the town council to protect them for the future is something that I am passionate about.”

The trees were planted last year with money that came via the Big Green Space Challenge. This distributed cash from the Langage Landscape Fund, following development of the power station near Plympton. Ivybridge Town Council had applied to the fund to support the restoration of the historic park and to ensure its retention long into the future.

SHDC said the species chosen for Victoria Park were ideal for the historic parkland within the Ivybridge Conservation Area. Selected to offer interest at any time of year, they were expensive and difficult to source.

SHDC added that although the Big Green Space Challenge funding has almost gone, it will use what it can to support the replacement of some of the trees.

Working with the town council, SHDC also said it was trying top save what it could, cutting the trees where they had been snapped and providing them with every opportunity to recover. Some of the species like the beech and pine are more likely to regrow than the others.

Where SHDC does replace the trees, robust caging will be used to protect them while they become established. Although, the district council said, this does not look very attractive, it would appear that it is necessary to prevent damage.

Police are still looking for information on the perpetrators of the vandalism, and the district council are also encouraging similar crimes to be reported as a deterrent.