SHELTERED housing residents have hit out at vandals who wrecked a hand-crafted willow stag sculpture outside their Dulverton homes.

The stag was torn out of the ground, set on fire, jumped on and then thrown in the river by yobs some time between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Pensioners living in the 24 flats had commissioned local artist Joolz Doncaster to make the beast after scooping a £2,000 prize in a culinary competition.

At the time the Hanover Housing complex manager Mike Stables said the residents had wanted to use the money to leave something memorable to mark their achievement in the contest.

But residents were shocked and angered on Tuesday morning when they discovered the sculpture had been wrenched out of the ground and damaged beyond repair.

"It was buried two feet into the ground so initially they tried to set fire to it," said one resident, Vera Bruce.

"When that didn't work they jumped all over it and threw it in the river.

"We're all absolutely heartbroken. He's absolutely ruined. He was insured, but that's just not the point."

The stag took up residence in the Hanover Court garden last year after residents joined forces to win the Hanover Housing culinary challenge.

The competition featured a pub-style quiz, with questions based around food and cooking and a 'My Favourite Sponge Cake' competition in which residents had to come up with their own special recipe and bake it.

The final stage, 'Thyme to Grow', involved the cultivation of six different herbs from seeds, which then had to be displayed in a unique or unusual fashion.

The Hanover Court team came up with the idea of a clock face, displaying the herbs around the clock and producing a pun on the title.

Photo: Steve Guscott