Trees in natural park mutilated by delinquent(s): "This comes as a big blow"
Dozens of trees in the natural area "De Liereman" in Oud-Turnhout (Antwerp province) have been severely damaged overnight.
The offender(s) used an electric chain saw to avoid that the noise would give them away. They made deep cuts into dozens of old trees, about two years after a first similar attack.
While many trees could be saved by volunteers the first time, 60 to 70 are now in such a bad way that they have to be taken down completely for safety reasons. "This is a big blow," says Kris of the environmental organisation Natuurpunt. "Volunteers worked so hard to save the trees after the first attack, and now this."
Pieter, a visitor who happened to pass by, told the VRT that "volunteers are doing a great job to make this a nice place to have a walk or have a drink... and now their effort has been wiped out by others."
The offender(s) are still on the run.
Watch a short video here with some reactions:
