VANDALS have damaged Poole’s controversial artificial Christmas tree as thousands joined a Facebook site dedicated to slating it.

The 33-foot cone in Falkland Square sparked a media frenzy last week with national newspapers and television crews lining up to report on the debate raging around it.

Comments have been coming in thick and fast on the Echo’s website and now on a Facebook site.

“We don’t care about health and safety, Poole needs a proper Christmas tree” has grown to nearly 3,000 members in days, with some suggesting burning the tree, climbing it or replacing it with a real tree.

Now vandals have ripped astro turf panels from two sections of its metal framework, leaving police and town centre bosses searching through CCTV footage to try and identify the culprits.

Town centre manager Richard Randle-Jones said: “It’s obviously been climbed by someone.

“We’re checking CCTV footage from the Dolphin Centre and Borough of Poole.

“It’s criminal damage and we have reported it to the police.

“It will be good if we can catch those responsible and make them pay for it.”

The damage was caused late on Monday night or in the early hours of Tuesday. The cost of repairs, which will be carried out by the firm which supplied the tree, has yet to be calculated.

Members of the Facebook page dedicated to it have branded the cone “a travesty”, “a very poor excuse for a tree” and as “ridiculous and making Poole a laughing stock”.

The furore has surprised the town centre management board, which agreed on the £14,000 tree, added Mr Randle-Jones.

“It’s the UK’s highest-profile tree. But it’s become so high-profile that it’s become a target. It’s a shame because children love it.”

Mr Randle-Jones said it seemed to have increased footfall in Falkland Square.

The cone tree was installed for health and safety reasons following complaints about the guy ropes and hoardings used to secure fir trees in previous years.

Its future is now uncertain. Mr Randle-Jones told the Echo the town centre management board would meet to discuss it, probably in January.

It could be kept, sold, or used in another location in the town.

• Anyone with information about damage to the tree should contact Dorset Police on 01202 222222.