A council in Melbourne's south-east says it is devastated and disgusted after vandals destroyed nearly 200 young trees and shrubs.
Some of the new plantings were snapped or cut off at the base with a handsaw, while others were ripped from the ground at eight parks in the Caulfield, South Ormond, Carnegie and Murrumbeena areas.
The Glen Eira local council said some of the trees were rare species and may not be able to be replaced, including red gums at Boyd Park which were grown from seeds collected from trees that were removed from the Murrumbeena railway station as part of level crossing removal works.
The vandals struck in eight parks in the Glen Eira area. (Supplied: Glen Eira City Council)
The council's director of sustainability, assets and infrastructure, Niall McDonagh, described the vandalism as senseless.
He said the council had reported the incidents to police and believed most of the damage had occurred on Sunday night.
"It's really distressing for us and the community because we've worked really hard over the last few years around policies, strategies, guidelines to really establish these trees to help our urban forest grow," he said.
Mr McDonagh said it was unclear whether one offender or one group was responsible, adding that the parks were not on a walking route or connected.
He said the council's parks workers were shocked to see the damage.
"They take so much pride in the work they do at these parks," he said.
"The way we structure [the team] … they work at that particular park, so they take real ownership and pride in seeing the beautiful trees flourish."
He said support was being offered to the workers, who had been encouraged by the messages they had received from the community.
Many social media users responding to the council's Facebook post expressed a desire to help re-plant the replacement trees, saying they were appalled and heartbroken by the loss.
Locals say they're also heartbroken and want to help plant new trees. (Supplied: Glen Eira City Council)
Mr McDonagh estimated the damage from the vandalism to be about $200,000.
"There's about just shy of $100,000 to plant the trees, to establish them, to water them, and the first two years is really critical in these young trees life because if you can get past that, then they grow and flourish," he said.
"Now we've got to make good, we've got to repair the site, we've got to get it ready for replanting, we're going to purchase new trees, we've got to establish them, we've got to nurture them."
Anyone with information that can help identify the vandals is urged to call police or the council. (Supplied: Glen Eira City Council)
The council said the destruction had compromised Glen Eira's target to increase the tree canopy in the area.
It says tree vandalism constitutes criminal damage under Victoria's Crimes Act which attracts a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.
Police received a complaint from council on Monday afternoon.
They say the investigation is continuing.
None of the council's CCTV cameras caught the offenders in their recordings.
The council is appealing for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.