Southwell Yarn Bomb Group's robins ripped to pieces near the Admiral Rodney and Southwell library on King Street
A number of cheery covers that adorned street furniture in Southwell have been damaged by vandals.
Drunken louts are being blamed for the damage to the covers, which were placed around the town centre in the latest stunt by the Southwell Yarn Bomb Group for the community as a Christmas treat.
The group placed 112 knitted winter and Christmas-themed hats on bollards under the cover of darkness ahead of the town’s showcase late-night shopping event.
Overnight Saturday, six of their number were damaged beyond repair, including a Robin that had its head ripped off.
The covers that were damaged were outside the Admiral Rodney and the library on King Street.
Chief organiser Sue Rodgers said: “I can only put it down to drunken high jinx — someone who thought it was funny.
“The poor Robin was ripped to pieces and lost all his stuffing.
“I’m appealing to help find who killed Cock Robin (a song by Tim Hart and Friends).
“You have to apply some humour to it, otherwise you won’t carry on, and everyone knows I’m a bit bonkers.
“The biggest thing is the disappointment.
“It’s upsetting — all that hard work and it’s spoilt in just a few minutes.
“We did wonder whether this could happen this year with it being so close to Christmas, but we weren’t going to be deterred because we knew their addition would make so many people happy and smile.”
The damaged covers have been replaced.
“We made sure we had spares,” said Sue.
“We had a second robin, it’s his brother — Dunn Robin.
“We just have to hope it doesn’t happen again because we don’t have an endless re-supply.
“So much goes into making so many — we started back in May. It’s a labour of love.
“We have informed the police and a number of the shops are checking their CCTV.
The yarn bombing is raising money for Beaumond House Community Hospice, Newark.