Park's new plants uprooted and thrown in lake

Hundreds of pounds worth of plants put in by volunteers at a park in York have been torn up and thrown in a nearby lake, a charity has said.

The Friends of Rowntree Park reported the incident to North Yorkshire Police at about 09:15 BST on Tuesday.

The vandalism was believed to have been caused on Monday night or before 08:30 on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the charity said.

Charity manager Abigail Gaines said: "It's disheartening for volunteers. These people are giving up their time because they care about the park and their local community."

An investigation had been launched into the damage caused at the park, according to North Yorkshire Police.

The sedge plants were recently put in by a group of about 60 people taking part in their employer's volunteering day, with the company donating the shrubs, Gaines said.

"A whole day's worth of work and the money they spent was just ruined."

While City of York Council is responsible for managing the park as a whole, the charity works alongside the authority to maintain areas, run community events and promote biodiversity.

Gaines explained that the sedge plants which had been damaged were part of work to create a hedge to "deal with the Canada Geese problem" at the park.

Across the country, the birds often "leave quite a lot of poo behind and lots of people complain about this", she said.

"We're looking at a lot of methods to try and make areas of the park less hospitable for them.

"So, trying to create a hedge in this area should mean there would be less poo gathering in the paths."

After the damage was reported on Tuesday, three regular volunteers retrieved most of the plants from the lake and re-planted them, Gaines said.

"We are missing a few - and we don't know if they'll survive," she added.

"We know what we're doing is a good thing and we know most of the people appreciate it, so we keep going and we stay positive."

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