Police hunting vandals who attacked valuable trees in Chinese city park
The late-night ring-barking of nine cinnamon and camphor trees will almost certainly kill them, perplexed park managers say
Police in southwest China are investigating why nine valuable trees in a city park had been ring-barked late at night – deliberate damage that will almost definitely kill the trees, a mainland website reports.
Photos taken in Qionglai, Sichuan province show eight cinnamon trees and a camphor tree with grooves about 2cm wide, exposing bare wood, cut around the trunks and main branches, Shanghai-based Thepaper.cn reports.
Locals believe the trees were damaged between midnight and dawn on Saturday, as the square is in a busy area that sees many visitors during the day.
Ring-barking, or girding, is a method of killing trees that will later be cut down. The process removes the phloem, the innermost layer of bark, which transports nutrients from the leaves to the roots.
Cinnamon and camphor trees belong to the genus Cinnamomum. The bark of the former has been an important spice since antiquity, from Asia to the Mediterranean, while the highly scented camphor wood is prized in furniture making, especially chests, and its leaves yield a natural insect repellent.
The bark is crucial for the transfer of water and nutrients. Such damage will almost certainly kill the trees
A manager of a local gardening company said the damage was likely done on purpose.
“It’s the first time that such damage has occurred here,” he said. “The bark is crucial for the transfer of water and nutrients. Such damage will almost certainly kill the trees.”
The manager said the cinnamon trees were planted in 2000, and each was worth an estimated 10,000 yuan (HK$12,000).
Arborists were trying to save the trees by grafting different parts of the trees across the cuts, but they were not sure whether the plants could be saved.
Police are searching for culprits, who face criminal detention as the trees are valued at more than 5,000 yuan each.
