It’s been a rough month for trees in and around Duboce Park.
First, a giant spruce on the eastern edge of the park was toppled by high winds on May 7th. Another huge tree on the park’s northern side suddenly split into thirds on May 20th.
And now we receive word that a sapling in front of 48 Pierce Street, just a few feet from the park, has been cut down by an unknown vandal.
Haighteration reader Ann B. sent us news of the tree’s premature demise, describing it thusly:
“I believe it was a flowering cherry. This is the yellow house on the park. The tree was planted about 2 months ago… Last Sunday night [May 15th] someone lopped it off a little more than a foot from the base. What did that tree ever do to deserve that?”
What indeed!
Adding insult to injury, the perpetrator left the severed branches at the scene of the crime:
The resident who lives at 48 Pierce provided the above photo to Haighteration, as well as a pic of the tree before it was cut down:
This incident of tree butchery is the most recent in what has become a disturbing trend in San Francisco over the past year.
In 2010, 32 rose plants and nearly four dozen trees in Golden Gate and Lincoln Parks were cut down by unknown vandals, according to The Chronicle. Then, just last month, seven more trees were found cut down in Golden Gate Park.
To our knowledge, no suspects have been identified in any of the cases, despite a $2000 reward for information. Whether there’s a connection between the Golden Gate Park incidents and this Pierce Street arborcide remains to be seen.
You know what’s really funny about this? Oh right, nothing. So if you have any information to share, do speak up. You can contact Friends of the Urban Forest (planters of the Pierce Street tree) or, of course, the police.