This type of vandalism is often done by property businessmen who either think their properties are worth more if they have all-day, all-year sun, or there’s a view of something they think the prospective purchasers will prefer to be unobstructed. People need to be alert to and record suspicious behaviour.
A Joel Maxwell story on the stuff website:
A stand of large pohutukawa trees will need to be cut down on the Kāpiti Coast, north of Wellington, after tests showed they were killed by an unknown herbicide poisoner.
The poison used was so potent that nothing can be planted in their place at a public park for up to a year.
Kāpiti Coast District Council said the trees at Maclean Park, at Paraparaumu Beach, had recently died and would need to be removed.