One of 17 maple trees cut down in the middle of the night in Vancouver by an unknown suspect, in a Jan. 7, 2015, handout photo.Vancouver Park Board/The Canadian Press
Vancouver police are stumped after someone chopped down 17 trees on the city's west side.
The seven-year-old maples were cut in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, along a one-block stretch of West 29th Avenue. Residents woke to discover the trees, which had been a few metres tall, reduced to knee-high stumps.
British Columbians chopping down trees is not unheard of – there are regularly tales of homeowners who wanted more sunlight or a better view. But the cutting of these 17 trees, which lined the sidewalks and at their height and age hardly mirrored the Golden Spruce, appears especially unusual.
"We're a bit mystified. We can't ascertain why this happened," Howard Normann, the city's manager of urban forestry, said in an interview Thursday.
The trees were grown at a farm for two years, before being planted in the neighbourhood in 2010, Mr. Normann said.
He said the maples appear to have been cut with a small saw.
"Someone just walked systematically down the street with what I think was a small electric saw, chopped the trees down at knee-height in one direction, then crossed the street and walked on the other side and did exactly the same thing," he said.
"… You would think it was because somebody was mad at the neighbourhood, or doing a redevelopment, or maybe it was a view corridor. None of the above seems to fit. I spent a lot of time there, and really, it doesn't make any sense. The neighbours seem relatively happy with the tree-planting that went in."
Mr. Normann, who has been with the city for 34 years, said neighbourhood residents first alerted officials about the tree-cutting. He said one woman recalled that when she returned home at 12:30 a.m., the trees were still up. But by the time her partner left six hours later, the trees had been cut.
Sergeant Randy Fincham, a spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department, said officers believe someone put "significant thought" into the incident.
He said police have not identified a suspect and are still looking for witnesses and any video that may have been picked up by home surveillance cameras.
Sgt. Fincham described the case as "unique."
"One thing we'll look at is the motive of why somebody would cut these trees down, whether it was somebody in the neighbourhood who had a concern about the trees, whether it was an act of mischief, vandalism," he said in an interview.
If an arrest is made, he said the person involved could face a charge of mischief over $5,000.
Mr. Normann said the cost of replanting the trees, which will begin Monday, will run about $10,000.
He said the residents he spoke with were very upset about what had transpired. Once news of the incident broke this week, he was bombarded with interview requests.
"People are extremely passionate about trees. And when something like this happens, it definitely catches people's attention," he said.
Thursday, the stumps in the neighbourhood, which is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Park, were covered in yellow tape that read "caution."
Edith Branter, who has lived in the neighbourhood for more than five decades, said she did not see or hear anything unusual the night the trees were cut.
Ms. Branter added she was not aware of any complaints about the trees from area residents.
"I haven't heard any concerns. They were nice, new trees," she said.