Orange City Council planted 23 scarlet oaks two weeks ago, along both sides of Forest Road just prior to the Carcoar Street intersection, to create an entrance to the village. 

But on Monday, residents noticed three had been dug up and stolen.

Nicole Day said the community was disappointed.

“We wanted to make the Spring Hill precinct a little bit nicer,” she said.

“They were also for traffic management because a lot of people speed through Spring Hill and by having trees, people realise this is somewhere they have to slow down.”

Orange City Council spokesman Nick Redmond shared resident’s disappointment, saying it was likely the trees had been dug up during the weekend. 

“The trees will be replaced in due course, but there’s a limited budget,” he said.

“Money to pay for extra trees will be taken from an allocation that was going to be spent on other ways of making Spring Hill a better community to live in.”

Mr Redmond said tree crews were on the scene to establish which trees required replacement and water the remainder on Wednesday and would continue to monitor them as they established. 

Scarlet oaks are fast-growing deciduous trees boasting glossy green foliage in spring, which turn a brilliant scarlet in autumn before falling. 

The project was part of the Spring Hill master plan, worked out in consultation with the Spring Hill community committee.

Passed in 2016, the master plan also includes commercial and residential infill within the village’s current boundaries, upgrades to the main street and parks, footpaths and guttering and space for a Rural Fire Service station, but left off expansion to the east and west.