Newcastle's Shaun the Sheep art trail organisers considering its future after vandalism

The organisers of a popular trail of decorated sheep have said they may not run it in the future due to vandalism.

The Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne Art trial, which raises money for St Oswald's Hospice, has seen the streets of Newcastle populated with a herd of sheep statues.

However, five of the statues have been damaged in the last couple of days, including two which were so badly vandalised they have been sent out of the region for repair.

The trial started on 29 July and the models are due to be in place until 27 September, when they will be auctioned off the raise money for the hospice.

Bosses at St Oswald's, which has previously run trails featuring statues of snow dogs and elephants, are now "seriously considering" whether to hold another trail in the future.

Jane Hogan, head of fundraising at the hospice, said: "There's a cast of thousands involved and they are all hugely disappointed but the main people it's bad for is the families in our community. They will be the most disappointed of all."

Steph Edusei, chief executive of St Oswald's, said: "This is a major fundraiser for our charity. We hope to raise well over £200,000. Every time it gets damaged that's part of that money taken away. It's the extra effort all of the team has to put in.

"We're really having to think about what this means for the future and we're really considering whether we do future trails if this is the kind of damage we're going to see."

It is not the first time this year the sheep have been damaged. Last month, another of the statues had to be taken off the street for repair before being returned to the flock.

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