The table - worth $2300 - was donated by local group OzFish Northwest as part of a bigger community-led project to create a picnic area near the river at Jewry Street.

OzFish Northwest co-ordinator Anne Michie said she was "gobsmacked" when she discovered the table missing on Wednesday.

"To have this senseless crime happen was very disheartening," she said.

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"Someone must have been down there with an angle grinder and cut the bolts off and just removed the entire thing."

The local Landcare group, OzFish Northwest and inmates from the Tamworth prison worked together to beautify the area for residents and fishers to enjoy the river and 'give back to habitat' in early 2019.

"It was actually all volunteers that have put time and money to put that table down there and give it to the community," Ms Michie said.

"There was a lot of people involved in it that have had the kick in the teeth from it all."

They also planted new trees and cleaned up the area, but Ms Michie believes nothing else was damaged when the table was stolen.

"I don't know why people would want that picnic table in their back yard but they think they need it more than the community," she said.

A plan to create another picnic area downstream has been put on hold now while the river advocacy group works out how to replace the table.

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"It's not a cheap item, it's not something you can raise funds for at a sausage sizzle on a Saturday morning but we'll work something out," she said.

"We won't give up, we won't let them beat us."

Ms Michie said the incident had been reported to police and to Tamworth Regional Council.

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