VOLUNTEERS have expressed their anger and disappointment after vandals destroyed a new seat feature in Malton.

The living wall seat, which was installed in Castle Garden only a month ago, was set fire to and totally burnt out.

Cllr Di Keal, founder member and secretary of the Derwent Riverside Project that manages the Castle Garden, said: “After only being in place for about a month, it is devastating to our volunteers to see our new living wall seat feature totally burnt out and the seat it is attached to also seriously damaged. It is deeply disappointing that yet again a small group of mindless vandals have done so much damage to a green space that is there for everyone to enjoy.

“Our committee works hard to try to maintain the site with very limited funds and this sort of behaviour makes it hard to continue. We are baffled by what sort of warped pleasure people get out of doing this sort of damage and ruining the features of the garden for others.

“The garden is now being used by more groups than ever and we have several events planned over the summer months. We are determined that these will go ahead regardless of these acts of vandalism.

“The first event is a free Malton Food Festival ‘fringe’ event on Saturday, May 25, from 10am to 3pm, featuring a range of local food and craft producers and charities. We hope that local people will come along and show their support for the project defying the vandals behaviour.”

PC Jane Jones, of Malton Police, said: “My concern is that youths are setting fires in this area and if the fires gets out of control it could end up in a bigger disaster and someone ending up getting hurt. We are hoping for CCTV to be put up in the area, and officers will be patrolling it.

Witnesses should phone PC Jones on 101, quoting incident number 12190081161.