Vandals have started three fires on a popular York trail, leaving its creator in despair.
Tracy Ostle, the woman behind the much-loved Foss Fairy Trail, discovered the damage yesterday (Monday).
And someone had also smashed some of the houses on the trail.
Tracy couldn’t believe it when she came across the multiple fires.
She told YorkMix: “There was one fire that was still alight with embers on it, it was massive. They’d put the pergola on it, pulled the chalkboard down and put that on it, put a fairy house on it.
“So we got that stamped out. We went around the corner towards the pond – there’s another massive fire where they’ve dragged all these logs that had been from a cut down tree right over the hockey pitch.
“Then I went round the other corner. That’s where all these the houses are, where we the bug house was, that we made of brick, stone and put the ridge tiles on – they were smashed.
“And there’s another fire down there.”
She said they were lucky the fires weren’t worse. “It’s gone beyond just a little fire. It was like they were trying to destroy the woodland. To me, it’s massive.”
Tracy said this was the 109th police incident logged on the trail since she created it during the first lockdown.
Recently a picnic table had been smashed and a bench thrown in the river.
With its collection of unique, small but beautifully crafted fairy houses, the trail is a family favourite.
But Tracy is reconsidering putting any houses on this stretch of the Heworth trail any more.
She said of the perpetrators: “You’re thinking, why? But you’ll never know.
“it’s just soul destroying for everyone that’s trying to do stuff. I’m broken.”
Sergeant Ben Ambler of North Yorkshire Police’s Community Safety Hub in York said: “We are working with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service following a number of reports of small outdoor fires believed to have been started deliberately in York over the last month, including at The Foss Fairy Trail.
“Our Neighbourhood Policing team is conducting patrols whilst enquiries are ongoing.”
“If you witnessed anything, noticed anything suspicious, or have information that can assist our enquiries, please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 12250094113. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously via their website or on 0800 555 111.”