FOUR vandalised trees in a Peace Grove in Beaconsfield have been dug out and sent to a nursery to recover.

The Gingko biloba trees were grown from the seeds of a tree that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, and were presented to Fremantle by that city’s mayor in 2014.

But they were sawn in half in April this year, along with a handful of other trees, in an attack that still has Fremantle council staff scratching their heads.

The council’s senior urban forest officer Jeremy Thomas said they would be sent to the City of South Perth Nursery which had originally sprouted the seeds and nurtured the saplings.

“When they heard of this senseless act, they reached out to us offering a caring hand and place for these trees to recover,” Mr Thomas said.

The trees were dug up by hand and the roots wrapped before being sent to South Perth where they’ll go into custom soils aimed to stimulate root regeneration.

They’re likely to be there for up to five years before coming back to Fremantle, and this week mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said a new home might be found for them that was a little more visible and inviting than the slightly barren grove.