A newly-installed charity box has been vandalised and had cash stolen which was donated to help keep green spaces accessible to all.

The charity, Earth Trust, said the stolen money was likely to be ‘not much’ because the boxes are emptied daily.

Despite this, ‘significant’ damage was caused to the pillar-  which was installed only last month.

It comes after police released CCTV images of a man in connection with money stolen from a gift aid box at Dorchester Abbey.

The Earth Trust looks after and protects more than 500 hectacres of woodland, wetland and farmland- including the site where the money was stolen at Wittenham Clumps.

CEO Jayne Manley said in a statement: “Our donation boxes were put in place to provide a fuss-free, easy way for visitors to support our work and show their appreciation of the beautiful landscape that we manage and open to visitors.

“We are shocked and saddened that one of our donation boxes has been vandalized and that the public donations, given to help the trust and this site, have been stolen.”

All of the money donated at the sites new pots are recycled back into the charity.  

Ms Manley added: “We will continue to empty our donation boxes daily and we thank our visitors for their ongoing support of our work without this help the clumps would not be what it is today”.

The crime was reported to Thames Valley Police.