Vandal poisons Kamloops woman's trees

A Kamloops woman says someone been poisoning the trees that line her yard, drilling holes into the base of the tree trunks and pouring diesel fuel inside.

Two weeks ago, Carole Watson says she noticed one of the maple trees in her back yard was only growing new leaves on one side.

She took a closer look and saw wood shavings and several large holes, five centimetres in diameter, drilled into the tree.

"I was, like, shocked, when I saw my maple tree. I just about collapsed," she said.

Since then, she says, at least five other trees have been poisoned — three Chinese elm and two poplars. One had 32 holes drilled through its bark.

She says three of those trees are now dying and must be cut down, costing her thousands of dollars.

"I work part time, which is not a great paying job. And you know, you struggle to pay a mortgage. So I really don't need this extra expense to take down these trees," said Watson.

Watson called police and thinks she knows who is responsible, but has no proof and the police aren't investigating. She says she's looking at installing security cameras in hopes of catching the vandal in the act.