Shepard Road in St. Paul is a scenic walkabout along the Mississippi River; however, something is missing.

Authorities say 60 newly planted trees were uprooted Wednesday night. All but about a dozen were thrown into the river and are now unsalvageable.  

“And we were like, whoa, what the heck,” recalls Raegan Carpenter, “Honestly, it was heartbreaking, it was devastating. I cried.”

“Just mindboggling, really,” declares Karen Zumach, the director of Community Forestry at Tree Trust, a St. Paul nonprofit.  

Zumach says those uprooted trees were five to seven feet tall and weighed up to 30 pounds.

“Those weren’t just kind of loosely planted into the ground,” Zumach says. “They’re planted with some serious conviction and soil that isn’t all that hospitable. So, it was a lot of effort to get those trees out of the ground and throw them into the river.”

The trees were among 250 planted in mid-October by an army of young arborists, paid by Tree Trust for their efforts.

“We spent more than, I’m pretty sure, more than a week on that road,” explains Malick Jenke, among a half-dozen high school grads taking part in Tree Trust’s ‘Branches’ program.

The group of tree planters includes 25 high school students from St. Paul and the ‘Branches’ participants — most of whom are interested in pursuing a green career.

“One tree will take anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes to get it completely planted, mulched and watered. In some cases, we have to stake those trees as well,” Zumach says.

She notes the value of the destroyed trees adds up to about $12,000, but the City of St. Paul says with labor and other expenses, the costs of the vandalism totals about $40,000.  

A spokesperson says replanting the trees is a priority but noted planting season is pretty much at an end.

After all that work, the crew members are none too happy.  

“What were you thinking, to just rip over 60 trees out of the ground for no reason?” Jenke exclaims. “It’s just weird to me.”
  
The hope by the group though, is that some replanting could happen in the future. “I think it would be awesome if we got those trees back there,” Carpenter says. “They reduce our carbon footprint, they produce oxygen, they prevent flooding. It creates homes for animals, and food. It’s like a whole ‘we’re kind of connected’ kind of thing.”

A post on Facebook from Tree Trust’s Executive Director and CEO Jared Smith included the following statement.

“While we are disappointed in this act and the negative impact it has on the neighboring community and our urban forest, we are working closely with Tree Trust to determine next steps for replacing the damaged trees and will provide more information when it is available,” the posts added.

“As you may know, this morning, we learned that 60 newly planted trees along Shepard Rd. were destroyed and vandalized, with some even thrown into the Mississippi River. These trees were planted as part of a collaboration between the City of Saint Paul, Tree Trust, and local high school students as part of a comprehensive workforce development program. These students invested a significant amount of their time and effort in this two-day urban canopy revitalization project.

This senseless act of vandalism has caused substantial damage, and we are committed to supporting any replanting efforts.

Tree Trust staff and workforce trainees replanted trees today that could be saved, and we are working closely with the City of Saint Paul to determine our next steps. Thank you for standing with us as we remain steadfast in pursuing our vision of a thriving workforce living on a healthy planet.”