https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/swords-balheary-trees-destroyed-vandalised-20245322'Wanton vandalism' slammed as dozens of new trees destroyed in SwordsAround 40 young trees were broken and vandalised over the weekendDozens of new trees in a north Dublin village were destroyed over the weekend in an act that has been slammed as "wanton vandalism" by a local representative.
Swords Councillor Joe Newman was walking in the Balheary area on Sunday when he came across the young trees, which had all been broken and vandalised.
He said: "I went for a walk on Sunday down to the Balheary area and I was enjoying the walk until I came across what I can only describe as wanton vandalism.
"I was extremely disappointed to see that about 30 to 40 young trees were broken."
Councillor Newman said he believed the damage had been carried out by a number of individuals and added that it must be "soul destroying" for hard-working Fingal County Council employees who planted the trees.
"Our local council are working hard to improve our environment and to see trees vandalised in this way must be soul destroying for them, although I have no doubt it will not deter them from their main objective of serving the community to the best of their ability," he said.
"I would ask anybody who witness ant vandalism in our community to report it to the Gardai and they will deal with it.
"To finish, I want to take this opportunity to applaud and acknowledge the fantastic work that Fingal County Council employees do on our behalf and to ask the community to maybe send an email to them to express our gratitude to them for all that they do."
A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council told Dublin Live: “Fingal County Council can confirm that trees were snapped on the open space directly across from the fire station in Swords which is adjacent to Balheary Park over the weekend .
"These trees were Prunus Padus and were planted in Autumn 2019. We will review the matter with the Tidy Towns groups.
"Tree planting by Fingal County Council is carried out late in 2020 early 2021.”
