Residents of a suburb in South Dublin, Ireland, were "devastated" after a vandal destroyed around 75 trees at a popular park in April.
According to The Irish Times, the perpetrator caused damage worth at least €33,000 (over $36,000) by felling 25 cherry blossoms in full bloom and 50 saplings of varying native species in Firhouse's Dodder Valley Park.
Officials believe that the offending party used an electric saw to partially cut the trees before forcibly snapping the trunks and causing irreparable damage.
Councillor and then-Mayor of South Dublin Alan Edge visited the scene after a resident alerted local gardaí — or national police — of the crime and described the situation as an "appalling act of vandalism." He thought it was "bizarre that somebody would go to such trouble" and that the timing of the situation during cherry blossom season "adds to the outrage."
"A lot of local people are really upset because there's been such a huge amount of work done on Dodder Valley Park," Edge told the Times. "I think it's fair to say that the council is furious as the landowner. People are very shocked as to why somebody would do that."
Community groups have collaborated with county authorities to invest €4 million (nearly $4.4 million) annually over the last five years to plant and maintain thousands of trees in the park.
It's particularly upsetting, considering the benefits trees offer by removing planet-warming gases from the atmosphere, providing habitat to wildlife, and boosting mental health. Despite this, people continue to damage or remove trees without understanding the far-reaching consequences of their actions.
This incident also marked the second time in the last year that someone intentionally chopped down trees at Dodder Valley Park.
"It's just devastating to all of us who have put so much time into this beautiful park," Caragh Coote, a volunteer with Dodder Action, said of the most recent attack.
"I think it's disgraceful that the hard work of the council is being decimated by some individual who has come down here, prepared with a saw, to cut down what are beautiful trees and destroy the place," a local told RTÉ News in an interview.
Though it's unclear if or when the South Dublin County Council will replant trees, the hope is that they follow the footsteps of conservationists in England's Northumberland National Park and Indigenous leaders in the Amazon by restoring Dodder Valley Park to its previous state.
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