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Serial tree murderer on the loose in Águilas
The Town Hall has filed a police report about the intentional drying out of a 40-year-old ficus tree
Yet another historic tree has been deliberately killed in Águilas, sparking anger and a renewed vigour to catch the offender.
Águilas’s Councillor for Green Areas, Jose Luis Moreno, has filed an official report with the Seprona environmental arm of the Guardia Civil the intentional killing of a ficus tree in the Plaza Virgen del Rocío that is more than 40 years old.
It comes in the wake of the careful killing of several mulberry trees on the Paseo de La Constitución, next to the Playa de la Colonia beach back in May.
Moreno said, “We are faced with a new environmental attack, as was the case with the three adult mulberry trees which were deliberately attacked last May.”
A statement from the Town Hall has specified, “The intentionality of the act is more than evident in the visible cuts made in the trunk of the affected specimen, for which it has not been possible to do anything as it is completely dry.
“The person or persons who carried out this act, after making the cuts in the trunk of the tree, introduced petrol or some kind of acid into the tree until the tree was killed.”
This is the same modus operandi of the person who killed the mulberry trees back in May.
“This is a criminal act against a tree which, until now, provided shade, lowered the temperature, provided oxygen,” continued the Town Hall statement, “and, in addition, it was an attraction for the hotel and catering trade in the area as it allowed them to offer a terrace service under magnificent weather conditions.”
They have assured that the affected trees will all soon be replaced.
“The right to the use and enjoyment of public space must always be above private interests and only by implementing measures against climate change will we be able to mitigate it,” said Moreno.
Sadly, these are not the only instances of anti-social behaviour against the town’s green areas and outdoor public facilities.
“We have several areas where irrigation systems have been cut with scissors, valves are repeatedly closed and swings are broken,” said Moreno, concluding his comments with a call for vigilance: “I call on citizens to report these attacks if they witness them.”
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Image: Ayuntamiento de Águilas
