It is common knowledge that strange things sometimes happen in the capital. But why unknown people are poisoning trees in Grünau is a mystery even to die-hard Berliners.
There is uncertainty in Berlin-Grünau. An unknown person is directing his destructive will at old trees by deliberately poisoning them. As the “Berliner Zeitung” reports, several trees have already been killed in this way in the past. Now an 88-year-old linden tree has been affected.
A press release from the Treptow-Köpenick district office states that the perpetrator drills holes in the trees and then pours solvents into them. This causes the trees to slowly die.
A week ago, employees of the Streets and Parks Department noticed a chemical smell near the affected linden tree and discovered two drill holes. “It is assumed that unknown persons want to kill the 21-meter-high tree,” writes the district office. This is already the third case in the area, it continues.
According to the local editorial team of the “Berliner Zeitung”, what is particularly worrying is that there is a 200-year-old copper beech tree in the immediate vicinity, which is considered to be the largest example of its kind in Berlin. Local kindergartens visit the tree regularly. The children have lovingly named the special specimen the “dream magic tree”.
The holes drilled into the attacked linden tree were sealed with wooden plugs, and the Streets and Parks Department is monitoring the situation. Nothing more can be done for the tree at the moment. The district office has also filed a criminal complaint with the police and asked the public for help, according to the newspaper.
District councillor Claudia Leistner (Greens) expressed her deep shock in the statement. She stressed that the attack not only destroys a valuable habitat, but also creates a source of danger for the surrounding area. The perpetrator’s motivation remains unknown. Nevertheless, it is clear that he prefers to act under cover of darkness. Residents must therefore keep their eyes open.
In Bavaria, too, a shocking case occurred in February of this year in Regenstauf in the Regensburg district, which “agrarheute” reported on. Again, drills were used to inject an unknown poison into a trunk. The 200-year-old oak tree that was attacked died as a result of the attack and had to be felled.
The owner of the forest reported the case, and the police estimate the damage at around 3,000 euros, according to the industry magazine. The damage caused by the current attacks in Berlin has not yet been quantified, but according to the “Berliner Zeitung” it also amounts to several thousand euros.
Four people were injured in an explosion in Solingen, including a seven-year-old girl. The suspected perpetrator died. The authorities raised the alarm.
A farmer found the body of a child in a meadow in the Lower Saxony district of Stade, where the missing boy Arian was being searched for.
