Some of the people involved in fundraising for the tree a decade ago had since died, he said.
He called the attack “mindless vandalism” but said he could not “turn the clock back”.
Mr Maitland said the next steps would be to set up a fundraising campaign to plant a new tree and “start again”.
“[We’ve] just got to push on and try and get it sorted,” he said.
Durham Police previously said: “We are treating this incident extremely seriously and we will deal with anyone responsible as robustly as the law allows.”
The force has appealed for witnesses, or anyone with CCTV or doorbell footage of anyone acting suspiciously in the area, to get in touch.
