The City of Yorkton is dealing with an unusual form of vandalism on Mayhew Avenue from the weekend. “A number of the trees were vandalized on Saturday night. We had about 26 trees total that were impacted,” Taylor Morrison, Yorkton’s director of recreation and community Services, told CTV News on Monday. Throughout the summer, the city planted over 330 trees, including lindens, oaks, and maples, on Mayhew Avenue as part of its ‘urban forest’ initiative. “Overnight, some individuals kind of came by and pushed some of the trees over. Some other trees snapped completely in half,” Morrison explained. The trees, while young, weren’t saplings. “These are larger, three- to four-inch caliper trees that take some significant physical effort to break and kind of rip apart,” he said. Out of the 26, five could be saved with the help of stakes, but the rest will have to be replaced. “We’re going to be backfilling these trees that have been damaged with new trees as part of our fall planting program,” he said. Morrison said members of the public showed support. Some drivers pulled to the side to chat with the workers tending to the damaged trees. “Support for the trees and for the tree-planting program has always been great, and [the public is] happy to see that we’re out here kind of making things right again.” He said vandalism targeting trees isn’t a common occurrence in Yorkton. “Usually people are pretty understanding that the trees are going to better our community, better the canopy across the city, and kind of let nature be,” he said. At the moment, Yorkton has no estimated figure for the damage caused over the weekend. “Obviously there are the costs of the tree itself, but then we also have our labour, equipment, and watering. Those sort of figures will all get factored into the final number.” Yorkton is asking anyone with information regarding the identity of the vandals to contact the RCMP.
