'Selfish and spiteful' vandals target Sunderland pop-up park

Sunderland Bid chief executive Sharon Appleby described the attacks on a pop-up park in Keel Square as ‘incredibly selfish and spiteful’.

The park has been a hit with families, who have taken their youngsters to see a range of large scale animals which are covered in artificial grass.

But now some of the animals have been damaged by thoughtless thugs in two separate incidents.

In the first incident, the zebra seat was pulled out of the ground, carried away and dumped in another area of Keel Square, while the following night the donkey was pulled off its plinth.

The pop-up park is part of a programme of city centre activity across the summer organised by Sunderland Bid and Sunderland City Council, and Sharon Appleby expressed her sadness and disappointment at the mindless damage which had been caused.

She appealed to anyone who witnesses any repeat incidents to contact police immediately.

“We wanted to provide something really special for families to enjoy in the city centre, which not only benefits people in the city but also the local economy,” she said.

“So we are really disappointed that people think it is ok to try and destroy these attractions or damage them.

“They are incredibly selfish and spiteful acts and we would hope that anyone who sees people behaving in this way would call the police immediately.”

Northumbria Police is aware of the incidents and the BID is now looking at extra security measures to protect the animals.

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