Neighbors in Covington’s Westside Community work up to anger, frustration and disappointment today as they discovered that 17 young trees, part of their celebrated tree project, had been destroyed.
They are calling in vandalism and the police are investigating “aggravated vandalism,” a felony.
The tree trunks were broken about three feet from ground level.
“I’m sad about all those trees,” said Mark Steward Young, but “looking at the bright side,” the neighborhood has been energized to fix the devastation.
“I think we can have them replanted by fall. We have had multiple offers to sponsor replanting individual trees.”
The neighborhood got a grant last year to continue its tree-planting project on Holman Street.
“With the efforts of Gus Wolf and Crystal Courtney, we were able to leverage funding for 20 trees into 40 native trees, which were planted last fall,” said Young.
Sometime between 1 a.m. and before 6 a.m., 17 of the trees were “lopped off,” Young said.
The neighborhood’s Holly Young, Westside Action Coalition Vice President, explained: In October 2015, the Westside Action Coalition neighborhood Association gathered over 50 volunteers in Orchard Park, from the Westside and surrounding communities, to plant new trees along Holman Street between 12th Street and Pike Street, expanding the previous year’s efforts of the Holman Street Project, a 2-year project funded by the Kentucky Division of Forestry to replace invasive pear trees with more appropriate, indigenous tree species.
Fueled by a $2000 grant from the Center for Great Neighborhoods, the original plan to plant 20 new trees doubled after generous community and business donations, eventually resulting in 40 new trees planted along Holman Street.
Efforts to replant the vandalized trees are already underway, including a $2000 donation from Duke Energy and dozens of individual donations from concerned residents. A fundraiser to help replant the trees and gather volunteers will take place in Orchard Park on Saturday from 3-6PM. To donate, please visit the Facebook group, ‘Reforest Covington Westside’.
If anyone would like to swing by our fundraiser on Saturday, I will be firing up the grill in Orchard Park. Feel free to swing by! You can also donate by Paypal, if you like.