A village in County Durham is outraged after a group of vandals chopped down a Christmas tree that had travelled 1,000 miles from Iceland.
The spruce was planted in the centre of Shotton Colliery ten years ago, costing the city £1,800 but providing a Christmas tree for years to come.
But on Wednesday night, around 10pm, a group of ‘mindless’ vandals chopped it down.
The village is now working to bolt the spruce upright ahead of Christmas Day and to raise money to replace it, but worries the same thing might happen again.
Locals drew comparisons to the chopping down of the Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in 2023, but claim the culprits are ‘too thick’ to have even heard of that incident, which caused national uproar.
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Stephen Maitland, chairman of Shotton Colliery residents’ association, said: ‘The Christmas tree lights were turned on at about 5pm, and 80 to 100 people turned up to watch.
‘Hours later, this has happened. Whoever has done it feels they can get away with it, but hopefully they will be caught.’
He added that the village has had issues with anti-social behaviour, with a dispersal order issued recently because children threw mud at cars.
‘We have had cars burnt out,’ he added.
‘I don’t think it has anything to do with Sycamore Gap. It’s just mindless vandalism. I am ten out of ten angry about it. I am absolutely fuming and disgusted.
‘The tree means a lot to everyone in the village. It was funded by local organisations and is dedicated to all those who died in the Second and First World Wars. The kids don’t understand any of that. They do not see the hurt they cause. The kids are feral.’
CID were at the scene this morning, where they took a mould of the tree stump. Police said they would be taking the tree away, but would later return it.
Many in the village didn’t want to speak, due to fear of reprisal, but one local, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘What have the culprits gained from chopping down the tree? Absolutely nothing.
‘It could not have made them happy in any way. It’s completely mindless. The tree means an awful lot to the people of this village.’
The local man added: ‘I am a single man and I do not have a Christmas tree, I never have done. For me, the village’s Christmas tree is my Christmas tree. I think a lot of single men feel the same about it.
‘It makes you feel happy when you see it on your way home from work. It’s terrible it can be up one day, and then down the next. You worry that once it’s up again, the same thing will happen again.’
PC David Allan, from Peterlee Neighbourhood Police Team, said: ‘This was a disgusting act of mindless vandalism, which has caused huge upset throughout the village at a time when our community should be coming together.
‘We are treating this incident extremely seriously, and we will deal with anyone responsible as robustly as the law allows.
‘This behaviour has no place in our community. Someone knows something – please help us find who is responsible.’
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