A CARVED wooden seat in a Kidderminster park was destroyed by fire in an act of "wanton vandalism".

Firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze at Baxter Gardens on Tuesday at 8am.

The seat, known locally as the storytelling chair, was installed in 2005 as a community arts project by Wyre Forest District Council and St George's Primary School in Kidderminster.

District councillor Howard Martin said: "It’s a nice feature of the gardens. It’s just wanton vandalism by brain dead morons, the chair is made of solid wood so they must have poured petrol on it.

"The Friends of Baxter Gardens have worked so hard with the council to try and make it a nice park. It’s a little gem.

"The chair had been carved out of the trunk of a tree, cut from a single piece of tree steam. It was about three to four ft wide and five to six ft high. People called it the storytelling seat. The idea was a mother would sit and talk to her children or dog walkers would have a sit down there."

Artist Kate Wrigglesworth and wood carver Amanda Evans worked with families linked with the school, St George's Church and the Bangladeshi community to come up with the idea of a story chair, decorated with symbols and images that depict nature and cultural harmony.

A previous arson attack damaged the chair in 2005 just months after it was installed.

The seat has now been completely removed from the gardens by Wyre Forest District Council officers.