A woman in the Sudbury, Ont. area was shocked last month when she came home to find someone had mowed her front yard without her permission — destroying her wildflowers.

Ashley Kerckhoff says she had received a complaint from the city about the length of her grass a few weeks earlier. She told CBC News that, at the time, she made a compromise with bylaw officers to cut the grass around her flower beds, where "damsel flies, dragon flies, butterflies, bees, [and] all different insects [were] just buzzing around."

Kerckhoff said city officials told her they did not cut her lawn, and she won't speculate on who did.

"I was furious. No one has the right to decide where in my yard should be lawn and where should be garden," she said.

"I get if I lived in a subdivision with small lots that butted up against each other, but we have a 30-foot buffer of bush between us and our only neighbour. So our lawns don't meet."

Yard bylaw

Bylaw manager Brendan Adair says long grass is a 'health and safety issue.' (Erik White/CBC) Kerckhoff says she'd like to see the city change its yard bylaw, which stipulates grass can't be longer than 20 centimetres.

The bylaw is meant "to better the city and also have a beautiful city that … attracts visitors and represents the city as a whole in a positive light," said bylaw manager Brendan Adair.

"We understand people's concerns as it relates to their desire to have longer grass for bees or butterflies. Unfortunately, this is a complaint-based system and we objectively apply a bylaw across the city," he said.

Ashley Kerckhoff's lawn, seen here before it was mowed down, included many wildflowers. (Ashley Kerckhoff) Adair said the city has received 400 complaints about lawns since April, and there aren't any plans to change the bylaw.

But Kerckhoff is adamant. "Sudbury is championed as a leader in regreening efforts, but individual property owners aren't allowed to regreen their property," she said.

Adair counters that "it comes down to a health and safety issue."

"Long grass or the storage of garbage can lead to animals and bugs and insects," he said.

A copy of the bylaw is here.