VANDAL attacks at two beauty spots prompted an immediate response from the community.

Adie Cooke of Lydney and his wife Jane were so incensed when they heard vandals had painted graffiti on standing stones at Lydney Harbour that they went to try and clean it off.

Meanwhile, Lydney town councillors have issued a plea for information about yobs who set alight a mature tree in Bathurst Park.

All that remains of the conifer is a charred stump but given the tinder-dry conditions the consequences could have been much more serious as it is surrounded by other trees and a hedge.

Chairman of the Bathurst Park and Recreation Trust, Lydney Town councillor Harry Ives, said: “It’s baffling, why anyone would do this is beyond me.

“The entire community cares deeply about this park and seeing it deliberately damaged is very disheartening. “The recent dry weather could easily have aggravated this situation.”

The blaze was spotted by a groundsman at around 7pm on Monday, July 23 and although the fire brigade were quickly on the scene, the tree was reduced to a charred skeleton.

It had to be felled to prevent it becoming a danger but there are concerns about the welfare of neighbouring conifers.

Anyone with information is asked to call Gloucestershire Police on 101 quoting incident number 127 of July 24.

Mr Cooke said he and his wife decided to act after seeing pictures of the vandalism in the harbour on social media.

He said: “Jane and myself decided to go down and try and clean it up – there has been a bit of activity down there at the moment from young kids.

“It’s just a beautiful tranquil place and as we have had good weather these last six or seven weeks the amount of people visiting has increased so the last thing they need to see is this mindless vandalism.”

They spent a couple of hours trying to remove the paint and although the visual impact has been greatly reduced, some of the paint remains.

Mr and Mrs Cooke plan to return to the stones to try and remove the remaining paint.

Mr Cook said there was rubbish strewn around the area and the bin on the riverbank is often targeted by louts.