AN East End community is fundraising to replace a “fox” from a popular woodland trail which has been “nicked” several times.

Volunteers at Mount Vernon Community Hall say Mr Fox has repeatedly been removed from the art feature since last summer. But now the wooden creature, which is part of a Gruffalo character trail, has disappeared completely.

Volunteer Mark Donohoe said he noticed on Christmas Day that the snake and fox had gone missing. The snake was recovered by a group of volunteers, but the fox has never been found.

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Pictures by Jamie Simpson

Mark said: “The community is absolutely appalled by it. We had used funding we had got to install the trail and we used volunteers to work on it so we really can’t afford to replace it again.

“The space has been sitting empty for a couple of months. People tell us it is a real shame and how much they miss that character being there.

“We thought let’s see if we can raise some money. It will cost around £300 to get it remade and installed.

“We thought the community might want to help us.”

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It is claimed that a group of teenagers hanging around the area have been involved in incidents of anti-social behaviour.

Police said they are still investigating the theft of the wooden fox. The force added they were aware of anti-social behaviour and youth disorder in the area.

A spokeswoman added a number of youths have been reported or taken home and additional patrols have been scheduled.

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Glasgow Times:

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Mark said: “We are all volunteers giving up our time to bring an area of the local community back into use. It was previously an old railway line. It was being used for fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

“We wanted to create a space that the community would enjoy and we thought it would enhance the whole aspect of the park.

“We don’t know if the people doing this are anti-Gruffalo, they don’t seem keen on the Gruffalo trail.”

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