A fairytale woodland in Aberdeenshire that is constantly growing and being built upon by children has been trashed by vandals again.
As a non-profit organisation, the team behind Aden Fairy Woods & Forest School reinvest all the money they raise putting on sessions for children back into the site.
Central to the community with young and old coming together to build something everyone can enjoy, the site has been damaged again by vandals, after a similar attack three years ago.
Years of hard work, carefully crafting tiny fairy doors, toadstools and houses in the forest at Aden have been undone in a matter of moments.
Chairwoman of the group, Fiona Mchattie said: “Everything is gone.
“We have been rebuilding since the last time the garden was attacked three years ago, with it being a non-profit organisation all of the money we raise goes into the garden and helping the kids.
“Its now the children that can’t play and socialise in the woods because of this vandalism.
“It has been so helpful for some of the children who otherwise wouldn’t have anyone to socialise with to come back and use the space and that has just been taken away from them.”
Community rallies
However, even as the garden stands as a shadow of its former self following the “mindless” incident, the group has been touched by the amount of support it has received on social media and already plans to rebuild.
Mrs Mchattie added: “So many children and childminders come to use this space, we will rebuild and won’t let this get us down.
“My 75-year-old father spent time building a lot of the tiny doors and houses, hearing about this he just wanted to give up – but it brought so much delight to people of his age and the children so I couldn’t let him just quit.”
The space which is is used by the local nursery, primary school, childminding services and frequented by the community, has been rallied around by the local community.
The 50-year-old added: “It has been so touching to see the support rolling in, over 35,000 people have viewed our Facebook page some of which offered wood and their assistance.
“We’re always so grateful for materials and helping hands.”
Mindless incident
Knowing how important local spaces are to parents, children and the community as a whole, north-east MSP Liam Kerr condemned the vandals’ actions.
Mr Kerr said: “I’m absolutely disgusted at the vandalism which has happened at Aden Country Park Fairy Woods.
“A lot of hard work has gone into creating the popular attraction only for it to be destroyed by some mindless individuals.”
The incident is thought to have occurred over the weekend as sessions for children ran right up until the weekend.
Mr Kerr added: “Families from across the north-east travel to the park for the fairy woods and I’m appalled this has happened.
“I hope those responsible for this terrible act are caught and I would urge anyone who may have witnessed the incident to get in touch with the police immediately.
“It’s extremely concerning that several places for young people have now been vandalised across Aberdeenshire in the last week in areas such as Turriff, Peterhead and Aboyne.”