Vandals damage historic pavilion and trees in park

“We have a group among us who don’t feel the park is important"

Six young cherry trees have been snapped in an act of “mindless” vandalism at an East Sussex park.

Guttering was also ripped from a Grade II-listed building at Preston Park, in Brighton.

Fundraising to replace the cherry trees destroyed on Saturday has already begun.

Kerry Pickett, chairwoman of the Friends of Preston Park group, said: “We have a group among us who don’t feel the park is important, which is really, really sad. This kind of mindless vandalism just happens, I’m afraid."

Ms Pickett said a tree in the rockery area was also snapped and guttering was torn from the Tile House pavilion.

The building was brought to Preston Park in 1929 and was used as a ladies pavilion.

It was bought from Aylesbury Tile Company, which used the building as a showroom at the Bath and West of England Show.

It is now used by Brighton Sound as a sound healing chamber.

'Incredibly busy'

Ms Pickett said the new saplings will require “reinforced protection”.

“We’re looking at some sort of fencing for [the new trees] that perhaps will give them some more protection while they’re still quite young," she said.

“Preston Park is not just for local people - it’s also a destination park that people really enjoying coming to.

"It’s always incredibly busy and we have a lot of events going on, so a lot of people feel that it’s important to maintain it.”

Upcoming events at the park include amphibian workshops and the Magic of Thailand festival.