'Somebody is trying to kill our trees': Saskatoon residents discover mysterious holes drilled in trees
Residents in Saskatoon’s Avalon neighbourhood are scratching their heads after eight trees were found with holes drilled into their trunks.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this happening in this neighborhood even though I’ve had a connection with the neighbourhood for 66 years,” said Jan Sedgewick.
She and a few other neighbours discovered the city trees on their properties had holes drilled into the bottom of their trunks and filled with a strange liquid.
Sedgewick believes someone was intentionally trying to damage the trees along Hanover Avenue.
“Vandalism is what it is, somebody is trying to kill our trees, change our neighbourhood and it’s not their right to do that.”
The City of Saskatoon’s urban forestry and parks department learned of damage this week.
“We do have instances of this occurring every year, we do run into trees being intentionally poisoned or damaged, but this is the first time we’ve seen this many in one incident,” said operations manager Konrad Andre.
“Having eight is unprecedented.”
Andre said city crews inspected the damaged trees and gathered samples of the liquid for testing.
Glyphosate or weed killer is commonly found in these instances, he said.
“It might take until next year to see if there’s any damage but, we certainly hope not, but it might take a bit of time to find out,” he said.
While Sedgewick doesn’t know who tried to harm her trees, she does have theories as to why someone would try to kill the trees on the block.
“People don’t like leaves in the fall and there’s a lot of leaves, I have two big ash trees,” she said.
“Maybe someone was upset that I hadn’t raked my leaves and my leaves were blowing into their yard, but talk to me, if that’s the situation, or even help me.”
Andre said the city is working with police in its investigation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
RCMP not investigating possible foreign interference cases related to Chiu, Dong: Duheme
Canada's federal police force is not investigating any possible instances of foreign interference in the cases of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and Liberal-turned-Independent MP Han Dong, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
MPs agree Canadian gov't should improve new disability benefit
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.