After Life fans have been left heartbroken after a bench inspired by the Netflix series was destroyed by vandals over the weekend.
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The bench, which was located in Nottingham's Arboretum, was one of 25 donated to councils by the streaming service as well as suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).
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Fans took to Twitter following the news to express their anger over the violent act, with one person writing: "It breaks my heart and embarrasses my home city of Nottingham when this is what's left of the bench donated by @rickygervais and the #Afterlife programme. A bench that was to be used for contemplation and reflection with the hope of finding inner peace. I really do give up," while another viewer added: "Unbelievable. Sometimes humanity can be inspiring and amazing, yet things like this make me question it."
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A third person commented: "This makes me incredibly sad. These #AfterLife benches have such a beautiful meaning and some [expletive] does this. The state of humanity. Like others have said, this is why we prefer animals to humans," while another encouraged Netflix to replace the bench, writing: "@NetflixUK Rebuild the Nottingham #Afterlife bench and make a huge dedication deal out of it. Show vandals how their actions are weak, don't matter, won't work, and are quickly forgotten."
© Photo: NetflixThe After Life bench in Nottingham's Arboretum has been destroyed
In the beloved comedy-drama series, Ricky Gervais' character Tony is often seen sitting on a bench in the graveyard where his late wife is buried. Fellow widow Anne (Penelope Wilton) frequently joins Tony on the bench across all three series as the pair engage in conversations about grief.
Commenting on the event, Nottingham City Council said the vandalism was "unacceptable and heart-breaking", while Audra Wynter, portfolio holder for highways, transport and parks at the city council, added: "We were devastated to see that the After Life bench, which has recently been installed at the Arboretum was destroyed over the weekend.
© Photo: NetflixFans were left heartbroken over the vandalism
"This is mindless vandalism and in no way reflects how people in Nottingham look out for each other. We thank the member of public who alerted us to this and took the time to collect all the damaged sections.
"The next step will be to look at how we can replace this bench as quickly as possible."
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