Duchess of Cambridge's home village complains of 'eyesore' royal wedding commemorative gate posts

Villagers in Kate Middleton's home village of Bucklebury are none too happy with a pair of wooden gate posts installed in tribute to the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The gate posts, adorned with acorns to mark the young couple's growing family, has been called an "eyesore" by the princess's former neighbours.

According to the Telegraph, at least one resident is calling for the 8ft tall posts to be "ripped down and turned into firewood". Another resident has compared the wooden posts with acorn carvings to "totem poles," which are sculptures carved on poles featuring animals or other characters key to native cultures in North America.

The unwanted posts were erected at the entrance to Bucklebury village and were commissioned by William Hartley Russell, heir to the Bucklebury estate, the Telegraph reported. Carole and Michael Middleton, who lived in The Avenue, recently moved out of the village. However, villagers are said to still identify it as the Duchess's home village.

After the posts were erected, the village reportedly erupted in "ferocious debate" one resident told the Telegraph. "They should be ripped down and turned into fire wood," the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "That is what should probably be done, chop them down and burn them, just like some gates that were put up near there in the past."

A fellow resident, who asked to be called Jeff, added: "I haven't seen them up until now. What on earth has Willie Hartley Russell done that for. There is absolutely no reason for them to be there." A third Bucklebury villager added: "As well as not liking them personally I just don't think they fit in with Bucklebury and its history."

According to the Telegraph, Hartley Russell has come to the defence of the artist, Marnie Moyle who created the gate posts, saying the new additions "enhance the area." Hartley Russell said, "First of all, they are gate posts and the estate had to ask for planning permission from the local authority and the parish council for them to be installed." He continued: "That was a number of years ago and to my knowledge no one raised any objection to them at the time."

Hartley Russell added: "I feel they are a fitting commemoration of the royal wedding in 2011. Until then the main thing we had done to commemorate the wedding was some mugs, and this felt like a more appropriate and permanent gesture. After all, it is not every day that you have a member of your community marry the heir to the throne."