A Martlesham businessman has said he is so sickened by the senseless vandalism of freshly planted trees in his village that he’s putting up a reward for information on the perpetrators.

Jonathan Waters, an estate agent, is offering £50 to anybody who can provide information which results in the prosecution of vandals who snapped nine trees.

The trees were planted last year on a stretch of grass along Demesne Gardens, adjacent to Eagle Way in Martlesham at a cost of over £1,000, paid by local householders.

Only days after being planted mindless vandals pushed them over and caused considerable damage, only the tender care of a tree surgeon was enough to restore them to full health.

However in the early morning of Easter Saturday this year the trees were maliciously snapped, meaning they cannot be saved.

Mr Waters said: “I drive past those trees every day and saw them being planted and my family live on the Heath and my two daughters. I thought how nice the trees were and how nice that someone had gone to the effort of planting them.

“I was sickened to see the trees snapped when I went past on Easter Sunday morning to pick up my daughter.”

Diane Bennett, admin secretary with Martlesham Heath Householders Ltd which paid for the trees, said she was “very happy” to hear about the reward.

“The trees were the result of quite a few years of hard work and were put there to enhance the area,” she said.

“I think the whole village was really disgusted by it and upset, so many people have called and rung the police and are really disappointed that this has happened.”