"Mindless" vandals are suspected to have ripped out newly planted trees from a green space.

Brentwood Council said multiple young trees, including those newly planted in St Faith’s Country Park, were destroyed after being uprooted at a planting site.

The authority's green spaces team ruled out mischeivous wildlife and suspect vandalism.

The council added that such behaviour has made it difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Barry Aspinell, chair of the council’s green and clean committee, said: "It’s terrible that these trees have been mindlessly vandalised.

“This type of irresponsible behaviour and mindless vandalism cannot and should not be tolerated within our community.”

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Other parks in the area have had the same problem, the council said, which was in the middle of a busy tree planting schedule.

In a recent inspection, it found black pine trees discarded on the ground, some that were planted in the winter and had grown 100 millimetres long.

Residents have been urged to contact enquiries@brentwood.gov.uk to report tree vandalism.