Cheeky pot plants outside a coffee shop have been given the snip - after they were repeatedly uprooted by drunken louts.

The phallus-shaped shrubs outside Stag Coffee in Canterbury were a favourite among shoppers, but the central feature of the "rude" topiary is now gone.

Their new "cleaned up" appearance has sparked disappointment among some city residents.

"Oh no! They always gave me a chuckle," said one, while another described them as having formerly been "a beautiful piece of art".

Some suspected the formations - which comprised one tall bush flanked by two round ones - were tweaked due to complaints from disapproving passers-by, but a Stag Coffee spokesman says this is not the case.

Operations manager Freddie Hewett said: "The risqué part has been removed mainly because of people damaging them on a Saturday night.

"I have quite a bit of footage of people ripping out the tall plants and throwing them about. There was lots to grab on to.

"They were thrown at windows and one even went missing.

"So we made the decision to remove the tall plants, mainly because I was tired of re-potting them every Sunday.

"It's a shame because it cost a fair amount of money to do.

"Instead of looking like male genitalia, the pots now just have bushes and flowers."

Mr Hewett says he had suspected people might poke fun at the original arrangements.

"In the back of our minds we knew some people would maybe make a joke of it, but it's just topiary and the garden centre we worked with suggested it was the best layout," he said.

"The bushes were meant to mark the outside of our outdoor seating area - to make it noticeable and attract people's eyes. So they did the job!

"We've not had any complaints. We had some people saying how lovely it was."

One of the original plant arrangements is still in place in the Marlowe Arcade, where it is safely out of harm's way.

The tall bushes from the other planters have been re-potted at home by Mr Hewett.

"I want to give them a chance to grow their roots nice and strong, which they didn't have chance to do when they kept being pulled up," he explained.

"I may replant them outside the shop in future if they grow strong enough, but probably not."

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