It’s a shame the vandals wantonly destroy parts of our beautiful
city parks
Destruction of a Tree Evidence of Serious Park Vandalism Problem
Dear Editor,
This morning, as I do most mornings, I took my dog to Del Rey Park, which is next to Luigi Aprea school. There always seems to be debris left there from the previous day or evenings activities, but for the most part, the garbage cans are used adequately. This is not always in the case of what I consider the debris leftover from teen activities, however.
I have reported tagging and picked up my share of leftover beer cans, liquor bottles and cigarette wrappers that is evidence of our inability as a community to prioritize our need to provide useful and safe outlets for our teens to gather and have fun, but that is another letter’s topic.
Recently, there was a vandalized tree. It was propped up by the city with a new support structure after it was vandalized, but then it was destroyed. This absolutely breaks my heart because I have watched the city replace the trees in that particular area by the playground equipment at least twice before this incident.
The parks in our city are very well maintained, and gardeners work hard to beautify these areas for the benefit of all of us. Why people think nothing of breaking the support poles and literally trying to rip young trees out of the ground is beyond me, and I think more citizens need to be aware of some of the not so innocent events in our neighborhood parks.
The good news is that the city is usually very prompt in cleaning up anything that is remiss, but with funding the way it is, it sometimes takes a while to replant new trees, and this is unfortunate for all of us who enjoy our city parks.
Valerie Hunt, Gilroy
