Paul Simon’s daughter has torn into Richard Gere for selling her childhood home to a property developer who plans to demolish the historic mansion.

Lulu Simon wrote on Instagram: “Hate! Him!” next to a picture of the Pretty Woman actor and a link to a news story about the home being torn down in the face of anger from preservationists.

Ms Simon, 30, a pop singer, claimed that Mr Gere “promised he would take care of the land” in New Canaan, Connecticut, when he bought it from her father in 2022.

Mr Gere sold it to a developer last year for $10.75 million and the company is planning to knock down the six-bedroom mansion, which was built in 1938 on a 32-acre plot.

In its place will be nine homes, SBP Homes has said.

In her now-deleted post Ms Simon included an image of Mr Gere, 75, surrounded by photos of her late pets.

She wrote: “I hope my dead pets buried in that backyard haunt you until you descend into a slow and unrelenting madness.”