'Selfish idiot' slammed over $100,000 destruction to Aussie city
Furious Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas says every single one of the 100 newly planted trees was damaged.
CCTV has captured the “selfish, irresponsible, ridiculous” behaviour of a man in Perth, who managed to trash a two-year redevelopment project in a matter of minutes.
One hundred newly planted trees finished off the Roe Street Enhancement project, which began back in May 2021. But on Thursday night, one member of the public took it upon himself to approach every single tree and rip out branches in a trail of chaos along the street.
“Every single tree – one hundred of them – overnight vandalised. Branches snapped. Trunks snapped,” Perth’s Lord Mayor and former Sunrise host Basil Zempilas told 6PR radio.
“What’s wrong with people in our community that they decide at whatever time of the night to walk along Roe Street and rip them all up?”
Mr Zempilas said an email was received on Friday morning informing him of the overnight destruction – which he estimated will cost more than $100,000 to fix.
The furious mayor said the project to beautify Roe Street was part of a tripartite arrangement funded by the city, state and federal governments, as well as taxpayers.
“Some of them won’t have to be replaced thank goodness, but many of them will have to be,” he said.
CCTV shows the unidentified man working his way down the street, snapping branches on each tree. He even pauses and waits for a group of policemen on pushbikes to pass before he continues his rampage. The video of the vandalism has been handed to WA Police.
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6PR presenter Gary Adshead questioned if behaviour like this happens in other cities and countries, or if its limited to ‘bogan mentality’ in Perth.
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time trees have been targeted in the city, with Mr Zempilas saying there is actually a budget for tree replacement because of people who behave like "morons".
He’s now calling for “stronger deterrents” for offenders, saying a fine is not enough.
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