The vandal who seems hellbent on destroying young trees in Golden Gate Park has struck again, it seems.

Six saplings planted just over a year ago — three redwood, one dogwood, one magnolia and one red plum — were discovered cut Monday morning at Doughboy Meadow, said Recreation and Park Department’s spokesman Elton Pon. A seventh, more mature tree was found cut down at the Rhododendron Dell on Wednesday.

Recreation and Park Department

Two benches, one at the meadow and another at Redwood Grove, were also chopped in half.

“We believe it happened over a period of days that included the weekend,” said Richard Corriea, captain at the San Francisco Police Department’s Richmond station.

The incidents are the first to occur this year, Pon said, but are part of a pattern going back to last May. Forty-four trees were vandalized by July, 32 rose plants were cut in August and three holes at the golf course were destroyed in late September and early October, costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It’s less the monetary loss than it is people destroying our park and resources,” Pon said. “The loss is that future generations aren’t going to be able to enjoy them.”

Incidents since last year have been confined to certain areas of the 1,017-acre park, Corriea said.

“There’s both a pattern to the type of (vandalism) and the area of the park involved,” he said. “We have some investigative leads.”

The Police Department started a program Wednesday that “significantly increases” the patrols in the park and undercover officers, Corriea added.

“We’re taking this extremely seriously and even seasoned police officers are confounded by what type of person would do this to these trees and the city’s crowned jewel,” he said. “It affects people when crime happens in a place of safety like that.”

Anyone with information should call the Richmond police station at (415) 666-8042 or the anonymous tip line at (415) 668-7387.

Here’s a map for anyone who is unfamiliar with Dough Boy Meadow:



View Doughboy Meadow in a larger map