A grandson has been left devastated after his grandmother's memorial tree was vandalised for the second time.
Daniel Snow, 33, planted a magnolia kobus tree in Appledore, Devon, last February in memory of his late grandma, Jean Williams. Jean died from cancer in February 2020 at the age of 78 and so Daniel and his family arranged for the tree to be to be planted on the third anniversary of her death.
However, after just 48 hours, the heartfelt memorial was defaced when a vandal poured bleach around the base of the tree and attacked its trunk and branches. Determined to still honour his grandmother, Daniel organised for a new tree to be planted this March. But within just five days, the tree had been attacked again.
This time, someone scratched away all the bark around the base of the tree, which stops it getting the nutrients it needs to survive. Daniel, a chartered surveyor living in north London, said: "Attacking a tree is strange in itself, but to do so when there is a plaque there that clearly states it is a memorial, it's just even more disturbed. My whole family is of course very upset and angry, as we were the first time. But as this is the second time, we also feel very disappointed.
"Because the community in Appledore knew how much it had affected us." Daniel and his family chose Appledore for Jean's tree as they had spent many happy holidays there together over the past 25 years.
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The new damage to Jean Williams' memorial tree (Daniel Snow/SWNS)News about the attacks spread fast around the village and were reported to Devon and Cornwall Police, who are appealing for information. No arrests have been made so far, but Daniel said the second attack appears to be 'calculated'. "It seems to be a calculated attack because of the way they harmed the tree this time - by stopping it from getting nutrients," he said. "You have to have some horticultural knowledge for that."
Daniel and his family applied for the tree through Torridge District Council, who accepted the request and picked a spot for it a grassy verge overlooking the sea. When the first tree was defaced, Daniel tried to appeal to the community by opting for a hawthorn instead of the magnolia kobus, as hawthorn trees are found all over Appledore.
"We thought maybe people living near were upset about the look and would prefer it if it fit in more, but this still happened," he said. "It's just weird that someone's taken issue because it's a tree not a big, ugly building in their eyesight. It's also next to a row of trees which are now of the same type and it's a council-owned park, so it's a council decision."
Daniel said he wanted to speak out about what had happened in the hopes of catching the culprit and preventing them from doing something similar elsewhere. But he and his family are unsure now whether they want a new memorial. He said: "We want to put another tree there as I don't think the person should just get what they want. But it has ruined the memorial side of it. You're on edge when you go there. It's tarnished.
The original damage to the memorial tree - less than 48 hours after it was planted (Daniel Snow/SWNS)"It's a shame because the wider community in Appledore has been so supportive of us. When we were last there, people were telling us how appalled they were by what happened. Hopefully this story being out there will help catch the person or stop them doing it again."
Torridge District Council said it was 'unbelievably disappointing' that the tree has been damaged again. Sean Kearney, head of communities and place, said: "It is unbelievably disappointing to think that, for the second time, the memorial tree in Irsha Street could have been deliberately damaged in this way. The matter has been reported to the police as a potential act of criminal damage and until they have completed their investigations it would be inappropriate to comment further."
Devon and Cornwall Police said: "We have been made aware of an act of vandalism at a memorial tree, believed to have happened between Thursday 18 April and Friday 19 April in Appledore. We take reports of this kind extremely seriously and ask anybody with information to call 101 or visit our website quoting 50240092954."
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