Cardiff: Trees gifted by Japan vandalised in city park

Twenty cherry trees gifted by Japan to celebrate 150 years of friendship with Wales have been vandalised.

The trees were planted in Heath Park, Cardiff, as part of the Sakura Cherry Tree Project.

One councillor labelled the "mindless destruction" shown by the vandals as "sickening".

South Wales police said it was investigating and would increase patrols around parks over the summer to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The project was launched in Japan in 2017 by the then leaders of the two countries, Shinzo Abe and Theresa May.

Sandy Sano, joint chairman and founder of the Sakura Cherry Tree Planting Project described the situation as "tragic and an unfortunate".

"I feel, knowing the kind mind of the Welsh people, I am sure it is a shock to Welsh people. We share the same feeling," he said.

"We'd like to donate once again, to re-plant those twenty cherry blossom trees that have been damaged," he added.

Mr Sano wanted to highlight the respect he has for the people of Wales and the close relationship between the two nations.

"We have a strong feeling, a very close relationship, with you."

Resident Corinne Williams said: "There's no words for someone going along and doing that. I wonder if there's any point in replanting them really."

And Sharron Whatley added: "I walked through yesterday and I just hoped it was perhaps just a strong wind or something. But to see them broken like this it really had to be vandalism.

"It's dreadful, so upsetting."

Cardiff councillor Jennifer Burke-Davies said the trees were only planed in January and "were meant to symbolise friendship and understanding".

She added: "It's a deliberate act of vandalism, a crime, and I fully condemn this completely unacceptable behaviour."

The council said the process of sourcing replacement trees had already begun, with the cost of replanting them estimated to be in the region of £4,000.

Keith Dunn, the honorary consul for Japan in Wales, said he was "shocked and saddened" to hear of the vandalism.

"This is a totally unacceptable act and I know that my colleagues who have been responsible for organising the Sakura Cherry Tree Project... will be incredibly disappointed and saddened by this news," he said.

"I would urge anyone that has any information about this crime to come forward and report to the police."

A total of 120 trees were planted in Cardiff, with 20 planted at Bute Park in response to trees being vandalised there in September. The rest were planted at Heath Park.

Heath and Birchgrove councillor Graham Hinchey said: "The trees will be replaced, we won't let the vandals win.

"It's really disappointing that young people have planted for the future helping with climate change work and this happens."

He added: "There were two avenues of trees, they were starting to blossom already and the purpose was to plant them near the hospital to show after Covid there was hope for the future."

He added that he had spoken to the local police inspector and asked for them to carry out more regular visits to the area.

Insp Scott Threadgold, of South Wales Police, said: "This is an incident which has caused significant concern to residents surrounding the park as well as the wider general public, the trees were donated to the community to mark the relationship between Wales and Japan in January this year and they hold a place in many people's hearts as a result."