Vandals Destroy 15 Trees in Granada Hills

Mulch.

That’s about all that can be done with 14 flowering saplings and a sycamore tree that vandals destroyed in Granada Hills this month.

“Everybody’s upset and angry,” resident Paul Libis said as he scanned a row of trees along Sesnon Boulevard, where broken, inch-thick branches still lay in the gutter. “I can’t imagine anybody local would do this.”

Libis, 50, and his brother, Steven, 48, noticed the damaged trees about a week ago while jogging through the neighborhood.

International Environmental Corp. planted the trees last month as part of a city beautification program. Landscaping contractor Henry Cespedes said the company is responsible for maintenance of the trees for a month after planting.

It will cost him about $7,000 to replace the 14 pink- or lavender-flowering Chitalpa trees near O’Melveny Park that were snapped in half. Cespedes also must replace a sycamore about a mile up the street where 11 more trees were stripped of branches, but can be saved.

Cespedes said that in the nearly 40 years he’s contracted with the city of Los Angeles, only once or twice has his work been destroyed by vandals.

Los Angeles police said the vandalism was reported Oct. 18. Cespedes said he planned to file a police report.

Edward Morriss, an inspector for the city’s street tree division, said such vandalism occurs more often near schools and parks, rather than in front of homes.

In 2000, the tops of about 60 newly planted trees were lopped off along Victory Boulevard in Valley Glen. A North Hollywood man was charged with vandalizing the trees, allegedly in retaliation for traffic tickets he had received. The case has not yet gone to court.