About $500 worth of native plants have been stolen from new gardens at Pensioners Hill.
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The gardens were established by the Gunnedah Urban Landcare Group (GULG) who are "outraged" by the act of vandalism.
"Our members have spent countless days working on Pensioners in order to create these new gardens and to have the plants stolen just when they are getting established is both frustrating and a poor reflection upon our community," GULG member George Truman said.
"We have created nine new garden beds surrounded by rocks obtained on the hill, and some donated by community members, with five dual truckloads of soil provided by Palmers Landscapes and mulch delivered to Pensioners by Bruce Sommerville and some of the plants were flowering before they were stolen," explained Mr Truman.
The plants stolen included flowering gums, Grevilleas, bottlebrush, eremophilas and westringrias.
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GULG reported the theft to Gunnedah police and motion-activated cameras are being checked to see if the culprits can be identified.
"We would appreciate any information that leads to the identity of the perpetrators as we will notify the police and expect appropriate action in order to prevent this vandalism and theft of public property," Mr Truman said.
"In the meantime, we hope that the rest of our community takes the opportunity to visit Pensioners and enjoy its amenity as the feedback we get from visitors who visit when we are working there is always very positive."
The gardens are part of a $10,000 upgrade project being carried out by the GULG and include a new timber seat featuring carved eagle wings. It is funded by the Drought Communities Program.
"This ironbark seat was made using seven freshly sawn railway sleepers by local woodturner, Dan Birkett, who has done a magnificent job in creating this eye-catching addition to Pensioners Hill," Mr Truman said.
"Dan was assisted by Peter Haley who laid the concrete pad on which the seat is located and we chose the spot halfway up the path so that people can sit and rest and view the nearby sculptures."
A sign describing the native plants and shrubs used in the gardens , as well as individual name plates for the plants, will soon be added to the gardens as part of the project.
