Hundreds of pumpkins destroyed in vandalism at Essex patch

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 29 Oct, 17:07 · Archive

Several families deliberately smashed hundreds of pumpkins at a family-run attraction in East Bergholt, Essex.

Several families have deliberately smashed hundreds of pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch in East Bergholt, just off Hadleigh Road. Laura Harris, who runs the family-run attraction, said the damage was especially upsetting given the effort involved in producing the display.

The site plants more than 20,000 pumpkin seeds by hand each year, then spends months growing, harvesting and arranging them for Halloween. 'That's five months of love, hard work, sleepless nights and a lot of muddy wellies,' Mrs Harris said.

The growing season was already challenging. 'Mother Nature also decided to get involved and threw in droughts, storms and high winds,' she said. 'This mixed with rising growing costs has made it one of the toughest growing seasons across the country. But we got there, and we couldn't be prouder of what we've created.'

Mrs Harris described the vandalism as 'genuinely heartbreaking', with staff left 'picking up the pieces, quite literally'. However, she noted that other visitors' kindness had overwhelmed them despite the damage. 'While we absolutely love seeing people having fun on our patch, smashing up hundreds of our beautiful pumpkins is not quite the sort of fun we had in mind,' she said.

How it is being reported

• Hundreds of pumpkins smashed at popular patch in ‘heartbreaking’ vandalismOwners of a popular pumpkin patch have spoken of their heartbreak after visitors deliberately smashed hundreds of pumpkinsColchester Gazette · 29 Oct, 16:25
• Hundreds of pumpkins smashed at popular patch in ‘heartbreaking’ vandalismOwners of a popular pumpkin patch have spoken of their heartbreak after visitors deliberately smashed hundreds of pumpkinsEcho (Basildon) · 29 Oct, 16:25
• Hundreds of pumpkins smashed at popular patch in ‘heartbreaking’ vandalismOwners of a popular pumpkin patch have spoken of their heartbreak after visitors deliberately smashed hundreds of pumpkinsBrentwood Guardian · 29 Oct, 16:13

In this story: Laura Harris · Pumpkin Patch · East Bergholt · Hadleigh Road · Essex

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