by Chris Hunter

Was it an indiscriminate act of vandalism or a deliberate attempt to scupper one woman’s gardening exploits?

Annette Belcher, who discovered 24 of her conifer trees hacked down and scattered outside her house in Church Lane, Trottiscliffe, thinks the latter.

In her own words, she was “gutted” when she went out one morning earlier this month to discover that, of the 28 trees she planted outside her house four years ago, only four were still standing.

Rejecting the idea that it was a common act of criminal damage, she said: "It wasn’t a teenager that did that."

“Someone asked me ‘do you think it was someone coming back from the pub?’ I said ‘yeah, everyone goes down the pub with a pair of shears.’

“I would have preferred if someone had knocked and said they didn’t like them.’

“Why are people like that? If I had a problem I would go and ask. I wouldn’t go and vandalise someone’s property. Those were good, healthy trees.”

Mrs Belcher, husband Glen and their two children, moved to Trottiscliffe four years ago after a spell running The Queens Head pub in Mereworth.

At £12-£15 each, the trees were an expensive investment, but she will have to pay even more to replace them at their current size.

Anyone with information about this incident should call police on 01732 379217 (if possible quoting reference 1771) or Kent Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. Information can be emailed to appeals.westkent@kent.pnn.police.uk