Vandals destroy rare tree at park

By Courtney Craig, ccraig@bgdailynews.com — 270-783-3243

Thursday, February 03, 2005

A rare American elm trees promise of shade over Fountain Square Park has been broken after Bowling Greens arborist found the tree in pieces Wednesday morning.

City arborist Jay Dougherty blames vandals for the torn-in-half elm, which he said was a special tree because it was one of only a few American elms grown to be resistant to disease.

Dougherty also noticed this morning additional vandalism involving paint poured on benches and ash trays in the park Wednesday night.

The $125 elm was planted about a year ago and was paid for out of the citys forestry budget. Its considered to be one of the most beautiful and majestic trees, he said.

Dougherty has filed a police report with the Bowling Green Police Department, but holds no hope in ever finding the responsible party. Although city-purchased trees all over the city are vandalized all the time, Dougherty said this 3-year-old elm is different because of the time and effort it took to get the trees from a grower in Georgia, the only place disease-resistant American elms are grown.

Officer Jerry Corbitt said the guilty person could be found if the station gets any investigative leads, such as calls from witnesses.

Hopefully someone will call in, but (the search) is based on calls and witnesses, he said.

The Fountain Square elm was one of 25 scattered around Bowling Green, Dougherty said, but declined to say where the others are for fear that they may be destroyed as well.

This American elm was part of a special project all over the eastern United States to establish disease-resistant elm trees, he said.

The push to restore American elm trees comes after the Dutch elm disease outbreak of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when a parasitic fungus caused the demise of millions of elms across the country.

American elms are just now making a comeback the grower that supplied Bowling Greens trees, River Edge Farms in Georgia, has only recently begun selling elms to the public. The farm used to sell trees only to municipalities and organizations.

Another tree, a dogwood lining the path leading through Fountain Square, was destroyed as well. That one will be replaced with another dogwood, Dougherty said.

However, he will probably not go through the trouble of getting another American elm to replace the broken one because of the effort would not be worth it if the tree were destroyed again.

For someone to do this for no reason is upsetting, he said. Its a shame. … It would have been spectacular this spring.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700