A COUNTY Councillor has slammed the 'disgusting' and 'soul destroying' vandalism of newly planted trees.

Vandals have targeted a tree, planted just days ago, in a recreational area of Park Avenue in Saltney, police have said.

The tree has been snapped in half, and Cllr Veronica Gay, county councillor for Saltney Stonebridge ward, has spoken of her disgust at the finding.

She said: "It's just soul destroying. I know most residents were absolutely delighted to see new trees planted to add more greenery to the area.

"With the amount of vandalism that goes on, we'll approach organisations in the future and they may turn around and say 'no because it won't be looked after,' my true feelings about this are unprintable.

"It's a very small element of the town who wreck it for everyone, and they're beyond description. It's a blight on the town and needs to be stamped out."

Last Friday, 14 trees - seven on the recreational area of Park Avenue and seven in a park on Bradshaw avenue - were planted by councillors, resident and council officers.

A North Wales Police spokesman said: "We were called shortly after 1pm on Thursday April 4 to reports that a newly planted tree had been snapped in half.

"We believe this to be the work of vandals overnight on Wednesday, into Thursday."

Anyone with information in relation to incident can call 101 quoting reference number X045043.