A couple, who asked not to be named, said they were woken at 1am by a group of intoxicated men breaking the trees.

“They were just laughing and saying ‘I’ve got the next one’,” the resident said of the men outside who were breaking the trees.

Council’s recreation manager Mark Kimbel said the trees were planted outside homes on Rankin Street, between Piper and Lambert streets, by council six years ago.

“Unfortunately, due to the level of damage from the vandalism, the trees are unable to be salvaged and were removed,” he said.

“New trees will be planted  during the 2017 winter tree planting schedule.”

Mr Kimbel said, occurrences of vandalism of this nature are not common and “council encourages anyone who witnesses any incidents to contact the police”.

Six trees left damaged in a separate attack last month along Bradwardine Street have now been replaced.