The owner of Luss Estates, Sir Malcolm Colquhoun, said the ‘act of wanton vandalism’ which damaged the trees has left a ‘blight on the landscape’.

As reported in last week’s Reporter, an agreement was made in 2013 between SNH and the tenant of Inchtavannach Island to remove rhododendron from the island, which also allowed mature beech trees to be gradually felled over a five year period. However, the trees have been poisoned, with a ‘dead’ canopy being created in the process.

It was stated in last week’s article that SNH were ‘unavailable for comment’. However, The Reporter would like to clarify that SNH were not given sufficient time to comment and their response was received after the paper went to press.

In response to the ‘vandalism’ claims, a spokeswoman for SHN said: “Inchtavannach is internationally important for its oak woodland but the condition of the woodland has been affected by a lack of regeneration, a lack of dead wood and the spread of non-native plants.

“We have worked with Luss Estates and the tenant over a number of years to improve the condition of the woodland and our latest five year management agreement with the tenant in August 2013 included measures to remove non-native beech and rhododendron from the island.

“We consulted the estate about this agreement.

“As this work progressed, we agreed with the tenant and contractor that it would be more cost effective to control the beech by injecting the stems rather than felling.

“We didn’t appreciate the impact that this would have on the landscape of the island and we are now in discussion with the estate and tenant regarding felling of the dead trees to reduce this impact.”