Anger after EIGHT beloved wooden sculptures stolen from Greater Manchester country park

Families say they're saddened after wooden sculptures from a park's fairytale trail were stolen. Ten statues were installed at Clifton Country Park, in Salford, back in 2017, at a cost of £5,000 and have been enjoyed by thousands of children over the years.

Among the characters featured were the much-loved Gruffalo, an owl, a fox, a fairytale house and more. But now only two remain and all that's left of the others are the wooden stumps after someone took a chainsaw to them and chopped them down before stealing them from the park.

It's thought to have been a carefully planned operation and would have taken some resources to move the heavy sculptures from the site, which is accessed via Clifton House Road, which runs off the A666.

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The theft happened just before Christmas but visitors to the park are only just discovering what's happened and say they're saddened that anyone would destroy something treasured by the community.

Dad Michael Palmer described the vandalism as 'mindless', adding: "It's so sad. I feel like so many children have been robbed of something magical."

With children aged 14 months and two months, the 36-year-old, who lives close to the park, says he was looking forward to doing the trail with them once they're a bit older.

"We're always in the park walking the dog and see families doing the trail all the time," he said. "It's a shame I won't be able to do it with my two."

It was on Boxing Day when Michael and his wife Sabina first noticed they'd gone missing. The only two left are the fairytale house and the Green Man's face.

"I was hoping they'd just been taken by the council for repairs or something," he said. "But the girl in the cafe