Two men arrested after Christmas tree in Durham village chopped down

Two men have been arrested in relation to a “disgusting act of mindless vandalism” after a Christmas tree which had stood in a village for more than 10 years was cut down.On Wednesday, the tree in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, was felled sometime between 10pm and 11pm, just hours after the Christmas lights were switched on.A 26-year-old man is being remanded into custody and is in the process of being charged with criminal damage, the Peterlee neighbourhood policing team said on Friday. The second man, 23, has been released under investigation.Shotton Residents Association chair, Steve Maitland, told BBC Radio Tees on Friday that the tree had been put up to commemorate fallen soldiers from the first world war.Steve Maitland: ‘These people who did this – I don’t think they understand the history and the feeling of these things.’ Photograph: Durham Police/PA“The Christmas tree’s lights were turned on at about 5pm and 80 to 100 people turned up to watch. Hours later, this has happened,” he said. “Whoever has done it feels they can get away with it, but hopefully they will be caught.”“These people who did this – I don’t think they understand the history and the feeling of these things,” he said, adding that some of the people involved in fundraising for the tree a decade ago had since died.He called the attack “mindless vandalism” but said he could not “turn the clock back” and said members of the public were making a sleeve for the tree’s base, so they could bolt back up as quickly as possible, “just to tide us over for Christmas”.Saint Saviour’s, a parish church in the village, posted on Facebook: “After all the people who gave their time and effort to raise funds to get a tree for the village. This morning a tree surgeon has looked at the damage and said it’s been done with a chainsaw. May the people who caused this be caught and punished by the authorities.”PC David Allan, from Peterlee neighbourhood police team, said: “This was a disgusting act of mindless vandalism, which has caused huge upset throughout the village at a time when our community should be coming together.“We are treating this incident extremely seriously, and we will deal with anyone responsible as robustly as the law allows. This behaviour has no place in our community.”The pair were arrested after police asked the public for any witnesses to the incident, or anyone who may have CCTV or doorbell footage of anyone acting suspiciously in the area at the time, to contact the force.