Staff at a Nottingham baby loss charity have said they are "hugely grateful" for the support they have received after their Christmas tree was vandalised again. Forever Stars, which support parents through stillbirth and infant loss, has a Christmas tree set up in Highfields Park.
At the beginning of December, "senseless" vandals cut the Christmas tree's lights "around 20 times". More than £2,000 was raised to help the charity reinstall the lights.
Yet on December 13, Forever Stars' fundraising manager Jo Sharp discovered the lights were cut again. She said: "The lights were cut and taken off the tree, putting it out of action. The tree itself has never been vandalised so that is perfectly fine. We then had the lights vandalised again sadly for the second time. I discovered them on Tuesday."
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Jo added: "We now have a new set of lights that went on yesterday so we had to purchase these from the fundraising that was done for the first vandalism. Thankfully, we have some great local businesses.
"We have security fencing around the tree now which has been provided by a local business free of charge. We have a local security company now doing regular patrols to protect it going forward."
Talking about how the vandalism made her feel, Jo said: "Angry, frustrated, devastated. All of the above.
"It should never have to be the case. It is a Christmas tree, something to bring joy and comfort to everybody and specifically the baby loss community.
"It is just devastating to know you have to put these measures in place. If it means we can continue with the lights and keep them until the new year, then it's a small price to pay."
Jo added: "I think for me, from a personal and the charity's point of view, that is something we really want to focus on - the real positives and the support that is out there for us in wanting the tree to be lit for the baby loss community and the wider community. For people driving in and out of Nottingham it's a great sight to see.
"We are hugely grateful and delighted by the outpouring of support that we do get. We know there are some mindless idiots around sadly but there are a lot more good people in the world than bad. Every time something like this happens it demonstrates that."
Police have been appealing for witnesses to come forward regarding the first report. Neighbourhood Inspector Ben Lawrence, who covers the Lenton area, said: “We were called to a report of a damaged Christmas tree at the bottom of Highfields Park.
“The tree has been cut in more than 10 places including the lights. The tree is owned by a local charity which works tirelessly to support our community. This is a mindless act of vandalism and we are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. If you have any information or know who committed this crime, please call 101, quoting incident number 0369 of December4, 2022.”
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