Vandals have smashed a memorial bench at a Beckenham beauty spot.

The carved oak bench was put in Kelsey Park to honour the memory of Roger Hardy who died aged 67 in 2012.

It's believed the damage happened sometime between Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16 when the bench was pulled from its fittings and broken in half. The oak seat rest was then thrown in the Park’s lake.

Mr Hardy’s wife, Wendy Hardy,70, is the chairwoman of the Friends of Kelsey Park, a group set up to look after the park.

She said: “He was my only love. We were married for 44 years but we had known each other since he was 17 and I was 15. I hadn’t even done my O' levels when we met.”

The bench’s legs were carved in the shape of animals because Mr Hardy was a great lover of nature.

Mrs Hardy said: “He fed all the birds and animals. He used to whisper very loudly and the swan, geese and ducks would come out of the lake and walk up to him.

“Often a duck or a squirrel came and sat on his shoulder. He would help injured animals. There were occasions when he had to get fishing wire out of birds’ wings.

“He was very well known. People used to call him the swan man.”

The bench was paid for by Mr Hardy’s family and the Friends of Kelsey Park. When Mrs Hardy discovered the bench had been destroyed she was confused and upset.

She added: “I was just devastated and then bemused I couldn't understand why anybody would do it.

The incident has been reported to the police.

Mrs Hardy believes there must have been around 12 vandals involved because the bench was very heavy.

She said: “I don’t know if this was done by young people, but if it was, it would be so much better if they put their energy into doing something good instead of damaging something that people loved.”

Anybody who has any information on the incident should call 0208 721 2616.

The vandalism happened last weekend.