Vandals smash Herald floral display

Vandals who smashed a town centre floral display featuring the Herald name have been branded “moronic” by Stratford In Bloom.

The display, on behalf of Stratford in Bloom, recognised the support the Herald has given to the organisation and the town’s re-entry into the Britain in Bloom competition.

Located next to the Visitor Information Centre in Bridgefoot, the bespoke display featured the Herald name and helped to welcome visitors into the town.

Sadly however, the Herald lettering, which took hours of work to create, has now been smashed up.

“Stratford-upon-Avon in Bloom are absolutely disgusted by the mindless vandalism which took place recently in destroying the grass & wooden lettering on The Tourist Information Centre flowerbed.

“The feature was installed as a tribute to the great support that we receive from the Stratford Herald. All of the letters were painstakingly cut out by hand and then fixed in place using wooden pegs - the whole process taking hours, and the result, underplanted with white flowers, looked wonderful.

“We were sickened to see that every letter had been ripped out and damaged - some broken into numerous pieces. Why? What possible gain or pleasure could anyone get from doing this? Whether it was meant as a personal swipe at either Stratford-upon-Avon in Bloom or The Herald, who knows, but it certainly will not deter us from reinstalling a new version of the tribute soon.

“All members of Stratford-upon-Avon in Bloom are volunteers and devote a huge amount of time to helping make the town look wonderful. It is extremely gutting when someone carries out a moronic act like this.”

Stratford did not enter the national Britain in Bloom competition in 2014 or 2015 amid concerns over its funding and after it was decided the floral displays were not up to the required standard.

The town returns to the contest this year, led by a revamped Stratford in Bloom.