Why it matters: The mindless act of vandalism targeted a not-for-profit organisation run almost entirely by volunteers giving up their own time to improve our town centre for everyone.
The details: Greener Ipswich CIC has planted 14 trees across the town centre in large planters, including seven hornbeams, three mulberries and four amelanchiers. The trees can be seen outside the former Crown Courts, at the top of Civic Drive, where Berners Street meets Norwich Road, and on Tower Street.
All the trees survived this summer's dry conditions thanks to the careful maintenance of volunteers, until someone "deliberately and with force" destroyed one of the young hornbeam trees on Tower Street on the night of Saturday, 6 September.
What they're saying: David Matthews, one of the four unpaid directors of Greener Ipswich CIC, said: "We could so easily throw down our tools and give up. But that's not our way. We know that 99 out of 100 people in Ipswich love what we are doing."
"Vandalism like this makes us even more determined to plough more time and energy into transforming our town. We are not disheartened. We are invigorated."
Matthews said the group would "continue to work with anyone who shares our vision, doing whatever is in our power to make Ipswich a really attractive place, bursting with green."
The bigger picture: The organisation was given funds by Suffolk County Council to improve the natural environment in the town centre, but only had enough resources to site trees in large planters due to the difficulty and expense of planting around underground utilities in urban areas.
Their work is entirely separate from the £900,000 Ipswich Oasis project run by Ipswich Borough Council, which has so far delivered some seasonal hanging baskets around the town, a few temporary concrete planters and benches near the Cardinal Wolsey statue, and designs and surveys for sporadic and "small-scale" greening projects on four streets between the town centre and waterfront.
What's next: Greener Ipswich has planned autumn projects, including bulb planting for spring and "major projects they want to pursue." The organisation continues to seek support and funding for regeneration work.
The bottom line: Despite the setback, the volunteer-run organisation remains committed to its mission of making Ipswich greener and more attractive, viewing the vandalism as motivation rather than discouragement.
