Wild campers have damaged woodland at an Angus beach after the area was flooded with visitors over the weekend.
Trees in Lunan Estuary at Lunan Bay have been hacked by campers while apparently gathering firewood for bonfires.
The matter has now been reported to police.
Tents and other items have also been left at the scene – including one which sparked concern when its occupants did not appear for 24 hours.
Jillian McEwan, a member of Lunan Bay Communities Partnership, says the heatwave attracted hundreds of visitors to the beach.
She said: “We are very annoyed to report that although the majority of visitors were respectful to the bay, there is always some who think it is acceptable to damage it.
“Parts of the woodland at Lunan Estuary have been destroyed by irresponsible campers, who hacked trees with an axe and by hand.
“The rangers identified the campers who caused this damage and explained that it is a criminal offence to damage trees and wood from freshly cut live trees which will not burn.
“Those responsible continued to deny it was them, even though the rangers caught them.
“The campers continued to infringe the Scottish Access Code and more trees were damaged so the police were called.”
Jillian says the campers were also asked to clean up a mess of rubbish and waste on several occasions over the weekend.
She hopes members of the public will report issues in the future.
She added: “The Scottish Access Code does not permit fires above the high tide mark, which includes no fires in the woodland or dunes at any beach in Scotland.
“There are some individuals that have no respect and don’t take heed, usually when drink and drugs are involved. In these cases, we will always involve the police.”
The group was recently awarded Nature Scot funding to install educational signs, detailing the Scottish Access Code and its conditions, across Lunan Bay.
The weekend’s problems follow issues on the access road the previous week, as hundreds of people headed to the beach.
At one point an ambulance struggled to get to an emergency incident due to poor parking.
Plea to park safely at beauty spots after ambulances blocked by weekend gridlock