MORE than 1,000 Christmas trees worth in excess of £20,000 have been damaged by vandals.

Police are appealing for witnesses following the attack on premises in Eastfield Lane, Dunnington, near York which left the trees destroyed.

The vandalism happened at some point between 11am on Tuesday, December 2 and 10am on Friday, December 5 and left the owners of the trees devastated.

Tim and Mandy Graves, had been preparing to sell the trees at the weekend through their company Contract Landscapes. They had spent seven years growing the trees at Market Garden. The tallest trees were between ten and 14ft.

The couple noticed the destruction on Tuesday, when they went to start digging them up and found a large number of them had their tops cut off and snapped out.

The family had put a sign up for the past two weeks, announcing they would be selling Christmas trees from December 5 and believe the vandalism was deliberate.

Mr Graves said: "This is a family business we run. Our main income is from the landscaping but we just thought we would enter into the Christmas tree business seven years ago.

“This was the first year of actually cropping them and selling them. We're not insured for it, you can't for something like that. So that means the trees are an absolutely write-off, we can't recoup that.

"They have been in there for seven years why would they do it now? We've had a sign there for the last two weeks saying we will be selling them from December 5, so it's far too much of a coincidence that it's happened this week."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said. "The trees, which have been in the field for over seven years, have been systematically attacked, causing £20,000 of damage.

"Ahead of Christmas, the owners of the trees are devastated by this cruel and malicious act. Officers are appealing to anyone who saw anyone suspicious in the area around the time of the incident to contact them with information."

Anyone who can help officers with their enquiries is urged to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 12140210137. If you prefer not to give your name, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 11