VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds worth of “senseless” damage to newly-planted trees in Dudley over the weekend.

Inspectors from Dudley Council discovered irreparable damage had been caused to eight Oriental Plane trees – which had only been plated last year – on the Birmingham New Road, near the Aldi supermarket.

Despite the trees being protected by wire meshing which stretches up about six feet above the ground, vandals managed to snap each one in half.

Along with a number of other trees, the vandalised deciduous, which have a life expectancy of about 80 years, where plated as part of a Dudley Council project to spruce up the heavily-used commuter route.

Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “This is senseless vandalism. It would have taken some effort to reach up above the fencing and snap them off, so this is not even a mindless moment of madness.

“It will cost the council thousands of pounds to replace them – if we are even able to – at a time when we are battling to save millions of pounds due to ongoing Government cuts.

“The police have been informed and we want the people responsible to be caught and punished. If anyone has any information or knows who did this, we would urge them to get in touch.

“Vandalism cannot be tolerated.”

Anyone with information about the incident should call West Midlands Police on 101.