A POPULAR nature reserve in Blackbird Leys was found defaced by vandals earlier this month and has quickly been cleaned up.

The affected area was in Spindleberry Nature Park, a 'hidden treasure' between Pegasus Road and Fry's Hill Park with a wooded area, large pond and open grassland.

In recent months volunteers from the Leys and beyond have been working to clear the site and make it a more attractive area for families and wildlife.

Recently a board bearing information on wildlife and wooden benches were vandalised, with offensive scribbling sprayed on in black paint.

Councillor Linda Smith, the city council's Board Member for Leisure, Parks and Sport, said: “It’s disgraceful that graffiti continues to appear in our parks and public places and it costs a lot of taxpayer’s money to remove it.

"Oxford City Council is clamping down on this nuisance and making sure everyone can continue to enjoy Oxford’s green areas.”

According to park rangers in Oxford vandals often target newly-added features in parks with scrawling and defacing.

Last year 2,100 incidents of graffiti were reported to Oxford City Council and in 2013 the cost of removing it reached £100,000.