40 trees were vandalised overnight in South Dublin park

Residents are devastated at an "act of vandalism" which occurred overnight in the Dodder Valley park near St Enda's in Ballyboden. The incident is believed to have taken place on Friday night or Saturday morning, in which 40 trees in the park were cut down or broken, with some appearing to have been cut down with a saw, while others appear to have been kicked or broken down.

Mayor of South Dublin Alan Edge described it as a targeted act of vandalism, counting roughly 20 "fairly mature trees" that were sawn down while around 30-40 saplings were kicked and broken down.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland Edge believed that the incident had been planned as it would have taken "quite some time to get through so many trees".

"So someone has presumably charged up their electric saw, gone to the park in darkness and spent some considerable time taking down these trees … it's bizarre that somebody would go to such lengths," he added.

"The council have put huge investment into it, but community have as well, we've had community groups planting trees. They planted, I think 16,000 across the county, over 8,000 in Dodder Valley Park," the independent councillor added, "people have been left reeling and "really, really disappointed."

Sharing photos of the incident on Facebook, a representative from the Knocklyon Network was incredulous at the "act of vandalism" adding, "I can't figure out for the life of me why someone would do this, and just push them over, it's a very sad sight."

The incident has been reported to the Gardai who are investigating. Speaking to the Irish Times, Edge said that CCTV was previously installed at the park by South Dublin County Council in an effort to monitor antisocial behaviour, however, earlier this year the council was instructed to remove it by the Data Protection Commission following a data protection audit earlier this year.