A WILDLIFE hotel in a country park has been trashed by vandals.
The bug trap doors were used by children on educational visits to Dinton Pastures in Hurst.
Located in the woodland area of the Junior Ranger garden, pupils could use them to take part in bug hunts, meadow sweeping and pond dipping.,
Inside the traps wildlife such as dormice and great crested newts could often be found, as well as smaller visitors such as woodlice, slugs, millipedes and harvestmen – a type of daddy long legs.
These trap doors were only installed at the country park in March, ahead of what would have been the school visiting season.
But on Sunday, May 25, vandals entered the park and smashed one of the doors, and then burnt the reminder. It is not known if any wildlife was inside at the time.
In a post on social media, Dinton Pastures staff shared their frustration at the petty vandalism.
“Our education team were saddened to find that a group of people accessed the Junior Rangers Garden last night and smashed one of our newly refurbished bug hotel trap doors,” they wrote.
“They tore the hinged lid and turned the rest of it into a fire pit.
“We really hope that our great crested newts and other woodland creatures made it out safe.”
