Two Shaun the Sheep sculptures which had been vandalised have been saved.

A developer has donated £10,000 to the Heart of Kent Hospice to repair and replace the pair which had to be removed from its art trail when they were wrecked by yobs.

In August, KentOnline reported how the two sheep had been deliberately damaged leaving the end-of-life charity “heartbroken”.

CCTV footage showed “Shikki” Shaun, which was in the balcony area of Fremlin Walk, being vandalised and “Cherry” Shaun in Brenchley Gardens had also been attacked.

Police later appealed for three men wanted after it was reported they had taken turns kicking one of the statues before pushing it over and walking off towards Week Street.

Both sculptures had to be removed from the trail, leaving the hospice out of pocket.

The interactive activity saw 51 hand-painted sculptures of the children’s character dotted around Maidstone.

Each piece was later auctioned off for £5,000 during a “farewell weekend” in Lockmeadow in September.

Furious residents had stepped in to help raise money lost by setting up fundraising pages.

And now, house-building firm David Wilson has stepped in and donated £10,000 which has been used to fund the cost of paying the artists to recreate Cherry Sean and repair Shikki to allow them to be auctioned off.

Sales and marketing director at David Wilson Kent, Natalie Perry said: “Like most in the Maidstone community, our colleagues were sad to hear about the intentional damage inflicted on both sculptures.

“We have previously worked with Heart of Kent Hospice and the work they do in the Maidstone community is invaluable.

“We hope that the funds will go some way in repairing the sculptures and to allow the charity to continue their work.”

The contribution from the develolper, which is building the homes near The Poppies in Aylesford, means the full amount to replace the trail has now been achieved.

Project manager at Heart of Kent Hospice, Erica Snow said: “After two of our sculptures were destroyed in the vandalism incident in late August, we felt really let down.

“After all the time, dedication and hard work that went into the creation of both sheep, making the decision to remove ‘Shikki’ and ‘Cherry’ from the auction and the thought of missing out on such a significant chunk of money towards our fundraising efforts was heartbreaking.

“We are so grateful to David Wilson Kent for generously donating £10,000 to enable us to repair both sculptures .

“Without their help, the actions of a few vandals would have forced us to write up ‘Shikki’ and ‘Cherry’ as a loss – thank you so much David Wilson Kent.”