A girl is devastated after a driver allegedly drove off the road to destroy her school project to share food within the community.

The family believes the fruit-and-vege stand, bolted to a fence on Totara Park Rd in Upper Hutt, was hit by a car sometime after 11pm on Saturday.

Zarah King, 10, created the stand as part of a Year 6 homework project at Totara Park school.

SUPPLIED Jen King said her daughter was in tears after seeing the wreckage of the crash.

Her mother Jen King said they were told the stand had been damaged and turned up at the site expecting to see a little dent.

READ MORE:

* Food pantry in west Auckland a 'testimony to humanity'

* Free no-waste fruit and vege exchange taking off throughout New Zealand

* Food fridge helps those struggling in Christchurch

They discovered the stall had been destroyed while the fence it was bolted to was left standing leading the family to believe the act was deliberate, Jen said.

SUPPLIED The stall was understood to be well used by the local community.

"To have a 10-year-old's heart and soul poured into it ... we were quite devastated really."

"She stood there in tears."

The stall was designed to be a place where people could offload food they didn't need, avoiding waste by providing food for others who needed it.

SUPPLIED The family believes the stand was deliberately smashed.

"We acknowledged how sad she was and just explained there are bad people out there that are willing to take from others."

A police spokeswoman confirmed a car had come off the road and damaged the stall but said police were not sure what time the crash had occurred.

The incident provoked shock and outrage in the community with social media sites running hot with comments criticising the alleged "vandals".

Jen King said the now-destroyed stall was constructed out of recycled materials and took a number of months to build.

It was officially opened last year by Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy and had been well-used by people in the local community, Jen said.

"We are very unlikely to find out who did it, and who did it isn't really such a big deal as what they've taken away from this community."

Anyone interested in supporting Zarah and her family in rebuilding the stall can contact Jen King via email at kinglyate@gmail.com.