Friday, July 26
Who is poisoning Berlin’s trees?
The act was quite obviously deliberate. Some unknown perpetrators have targeted 40 trees on Großen Badewiese in Berlin-Gatow and filled them with a poisonous liquid, causing massive damage. And it is not the first time that authorities have noticed this type of tree-poisoning in Berlin.
The method seems to be as follows: tall trees are drilled in to a depth of about 35 centimetres, and the holes are then filled with the poisonous liquid causing the plants to die. When authorities investigated the damage, they found a drill that had remained stuck in. The city will now have to take on the considerable costs of securing and, most likely, felling the trees.
Police did not mention possible suspects, nor provide any likely motivation, but these crimes fit into a pattern of behaviour. This June, similar acts were discovered in Grünau where someone had drilled into several old trees, killing an 88-year-old linden tree, and last year, a large number of trees were deliberately targeted in the green belt of Bullengraben near Spandau.
