A SPATE of vandalism is threatening to ruin a community garden in Okehampton.
More than £2,500 worth of damage has been caused at the Ockment Centre.
Garden designer Tim Argles said it was ?galling? and ?disheartening?.
The vandalism has been occurring periodically over the last 12 to 18 months, and has included the cutting down of trees, damaging of plants and theft.
Mr Argles said it was ?very devastating? that someone appeared to be returning to the garden and grounds of the centre causing fresh damage each time.
?Many people put many hours in. A lot of people from this area put effort into this.?
?It?s a community garden. It is not my garden. It is everybody?s garden and it is incredibly sad this has been done,? he said.
Mr Argles said the most recent incident where several plants and trees were cut down last week had been a setback.
?I came in on Friday, and was totally gutted. I didn?t feel like working,? he said.
Mr Argles said he had lost many hours of labour replacing plants, but now was not the right time of year for him to replant some types of plants and trees.
He said some of the trees had been cut down as they were maturing and it would take time to replace and restore the appearance of the garden.
Mr Argles chose a number of rare plants specific to Devon for the garden, including a mazzard cherry and a Plymouth pear ? one of the rarest plants in the country.
He said the recently unveiled community garden would be at its best when the central tree in the garden established itself, but this had already been damaged once and had started growing again.
Trees by the riverbank, which will serve as an educational area for children, had also been cut down.
Mr Argles said the community garden had been a success since it opened around a month ago with as many as 100 people visiting the garden each day.
Many of the neighbouring residents do not have gardens of their own and have been able to enjoy the recent good weather in a peaceful environment.
He said the garden would see even greater use when more benches for people to sit in and enjoy the garden were supplied. ?I?m very pleased. The general reaction of people has been positive. It has been a success,? he said.
The centre?s acting manager Geoff Mills estimated the damage caused by vandalism so far to be in excess of £2,500.
He said as the Ockment Centre was a charity, once it secured grants for garden projects it was not able to recoup the money if persistent cases of vandalism resulted in the loss of trees and plants, and the money to restore the appearance had to come from somewhere else.
Police have appealed to the public to assist them by reporting any suspicious behaviour they see around the centre to Okehampton Police on 08705 777444.
PC Dave Woodland said a description had been passed to police which was being looked into, but enquiries into vandalism at the centre were ongoing.
He said the vandalism was not thought to involve youngsters in Okehampton: ?It is not believed to be young people,? he confirmed.
Just last month, the new garden was unveiled on the derelict playground at what was previously the old primary school.
The Ockment Centre runs a range of courses, an internet cafe, creche facilities and houses other voluntary organisations.