VOLUNTEERS at Malton’s Castle Garden have hit out at the “mindless” vandalism at the attraction.

A unique artwork created specifically for the Castle Garden in 2015 by Matt Sewell - artist, illustrator, ornithologist and author of a series of bestselling bird books - was ripped from the wall and badly damaged, possibly beyond repair.

Cllr Di Keal, founder member of the Derwent Riverside Project that manages the Castle Garden, said: “I am both deeply upset and very angry about this act of stupid vandalism.

“This bird-themed mural has been a lovely feature in the garden since Matt created it as part of a Ryedale Book Festival event in 2015 and has been much admired by visitors.

“I cannot understand what sort of person thinks it is fun to deliberately destroy something like this which was installed for everyone to enjoy and will now probably be lost forever.

“The committee has recently spent almost £9,000 refurbishing paths in the garden, thanks in part to a grant from Ryedale District Council, and our volunteers have been working hard to maintain and improve the garden – so it is upsetting that a small group of mindless idiots seem determined to destroy all that hard work and spoil the site for others.”

The damage has been reported to the police. North Yorkshire Police said that anyone with information should phone them on 101, quoting incident log number 179 of Friday, August 3.

Castle Garden has been the target of anti-social behaviour over many years. In 2010, oak signs were deliberately sawn off and thrown over a wall, and in 2015, all the seating in the garden - including a specially-constructed “story-telling chair” worth more than £2,000 - was destroyed.

In 2016, there were calls to tackle under-age drinking and vandalism after a resident was verbally abused by youths drinking in the area, and in 2017, there was upset about broken bottles, litter and drug paraphernalia left in the area.