A teenage boy is being sought by police after a sculpture created from a damaged tree in Royston’s Priory Memorial Gardens was vandalised at the weekend.

The incident took place at about 2.10pm on Saturday, when the offender broke off the crow at the top of the statue before leaving on foot in the direction of the station.

The sculpture, which was created from the tree that was damaged beyond repair five years ago, was unveiled in November last year as part of a community project involving North Herts District Council and Royston Town Council.

The suspected vandal has been described by police as a boy of about 14 or 15 years old, white, around 5ft 3in tall, of slim build and was wearing a black jacket with a grey hood.

The bird was later recovered by police.

Town council clerk Susan Thornton-Björk said: “We are disheartened to see such mindless acts of vandalism from people intent on destroying their local environment.

“We would ask anyone who has any information concerning this vandalism and antisocial behaviour to pass on any details to the police.”

Anyone with information about the incident should contact police on 101, quoting crime reference G4/17/42.