Plans to save a symbolic work of art have been scrapped amid fears it could be vandalised or stolen.

The Friends of the Vines has been raising funds to restore the monk carving in The Vines park in Rochester.

The statue was created by artist Robert Koenig from a tree damaged by the hurricane of 1987.

The monk is now drying out and close to collapse so The Friends group had planned to have the tree cast as a bronze sculpture, inscribed with quotations from Dickens' last book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

The Friends had the backing of Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless and local artist Peter Reeds who auctioned one of his paintings to raise funds.

The group intended to unveil the statue next year, to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dickens, who was seen walking through the park a few days before he died.

But the plans have been abandoned when some of the group raised fears the monk would be targeted by scrap metal thieves and its safety could not be guaranteed.

Sarah Griffin, secretary of the Friends of The Vines, said: "We are extremely disappointed by this decision, especially chairperson Fern Alder and myself.

"We had both been working on the project for about nine months and had just secured a sponsor for the first stage, the mould-taking. We had also just received full consent for the project from the cathedral committee."

The group now plans to take down the monk when he becomes too unstable and put him in another part of the park.

Fern Alder said: "We have a corner of the park reserved for bugs so the monk is going to be laid down there and hopefully it will become a new habitat for wildlife.

"We will also preserve the base of the monk which is home to a colony of stag beetles."

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