Vandals have struck again in the Parksville Community Park.
City official report that during the night on March 4, a Sawtooth Oak in the park’s arboretum near the tennis courts was cut down.
In a press release, city manager of communications Deb Tardiff called the act “pointless destruction”.
The vandalism was reported to the Oceanside RCMP on Tuesday morning (March 5).
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“The city’s parks staff are extremely disappointed to deal yet again with vandalism in the community park,” said Tardiff in the release. “The Sawtooth Oak was planted about 20 years ago by the parks foreman, who spent much of his career searching out unusual, rare and hard to find trees to display in the arboretum for the enjoyment of visitors to the park.”
The arboretum has provided educational opportunities for school and university students as well as being a “refuge of peace in a busy world.”
The Sawtooth Oak was approximately 20 centimetres in diameter at breast height with a canopy covering almost 40 square metres. Assessed in 2019, the value of the tree was $3,525.
— NEWS Staff
