By Elli Hodgson by SWNS
Teenagers who devoted hundreds of hours to building a treehouse have been left devastated – after a council labeled it as “criminal damage” and had it torn down.
A group of friends started constructing the den in Hermitage Lane Woods in Maidstone, Kent at the end of May.
The idea was to create a new place to hang out together – with parents saying the project helped keep their kids away from the Xbox and PlayStation.
Initially, things started small, but over time more teenagers joined in and around 15 ended up building the treehouse.
They used logs which had laid in the woodland for a while to create the foundations – before adding a tarpaulin roof, a front door, some chairs and a sofa, and even a makeshift viewing platform.
However, the group’s efforts were derailed on July 26 when Croudace Homes, the developer of neighboring Hermitage Park Estate, …