A dummy fairy tree which has been a popular attraction for families visiting a park in Larkfield for nearly 20 years has disappeared.

The tree in Leybourne Lakes Country Park became a place for toddlers across Kent to visit when they no longer needed their dummies.

They would hang them on the branches with ribbon and hand written notes with the impression the fairies would live inside them or pass them on to other youngsters who may benefit from them more.

But over recent months the tree has been stripped bare and some parts have been cut back to stumps with the reason remaining a mystery.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) say it is not down to them.

A spokesperson from the council said: "TMBC hasn’t taken any steps to remove either the dummies or the tree in any way, but we are aware that a member or members of the public have taken it upon themselves to remove the dummies."

Park rangers say the tree was started by a dog walker who found a child’s dummy on the footpath and decided to hang it from the tree just in case the parents returned looking for it.

From there members of the public began placing their children’s dummies on the tree with hand written notes.

A sign was eventually put up and it became so popular, rangers had to periodically remove some of the dummies because there was simply no space left.

While it's not clear exactly when the tree started, Tracey Walsh who runs Cheeky Monkey child minders in Aylesford said it has been there for at least 18 years as she remembers visiting when her daughter was first born.

She said: "I'm really disappointed it's gone, I'm dumbfounded and I just don't understand why somebody wouldn't like it there.

"For some people it's just a tree but for others it's going to be really sad because it has helped so many children with the transition and the acceptance of giving something up.

"It's a little bit of magic and when we visited I'd tell the children I could see the fairies and suddenly their imagination would kick in and they would see them too."

Ms Walsh said now things are opening up again, families across Kent should rally together restart the dummy tree at the lakes so children can have a little bit of that magic back on their walks.

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