King Charles III beheaded three times in village's knitted displays

King Charles III was first beheaded on this postbox topper ahead of his coronation

King Charles III has been beheaded three times in knitted and crocheted displays created by volunteers in a Nottinghamshire village.

The new monarch was first decapitated on a postbox topper in Ruddington ahead of his coronation.

The topper was repaired with a new head, but Charles has now been beheaded again on the same postbox, and in a coronation balcony scene.

The attacks are thought to have been targeted.

One of the volunteers, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: "All three incidents were a clean cut, no tugging or pulling, so planned rather than mindless vandalism.

"If you are anti-royal then please find a way to protest about that in your own way. Your actions here have just destroyed a talented craft person's work. Find another way to make your point."

The photo shows the postbox topper before it was decapitated for the first time

Volunteers in the village are known for creating knitted and crocheted displays throughout the year, but they are not usually vandalised.

Alex Preston, who runs The Bottle Top store, said it was "heartbreaking" to see the vandalism.

"I have contributed, not to this one, but to some of the displays that they've done in the past, and they take so much work and so much organisation," she said.

"The ladies that do it, they try so hard to bring the community together, and it's such a massive effort.

"I think the royals in particular are a controversial subject so the only thing I can think of is it's something like that."

Charles has since been beheaded in this coronation balcony display

Ian Rowson, chair of trustees at the Framework Knitters Museum in the village, said it was "very disappointing to see".

"There is a long history of them decorating the village up for various events and I'm not aware that any of those have really suffered any serious attack," he said.