Unidentified assailants cut down two street trees in Queens, New York, causing unrest in a quiet neighborhood, according to local residents.

Local residents don’t know exactly when the diagonal mark first appeared on the trunk of the pin oak and adjacent Japanese pagoda, but they are expressing confusion and concern, CBS News New York reported. (Related: Report: Man dies while cutting down trees)

“It doesn’t make any sense at all,” said local Fernando Peña.

Neighbors were left baffled and heartbroken after an unknown perpetrator left slash marks on two street trees in Ridgewood, Queens. @ElleMcLogan I have a story. https://t.co/8cBOzCy4qd

— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) January 6, 2025

“It looks like our tree was attacked,” Jennifer Castro, a local resident who has lived on the block where the tree was destroyed for more than a decade, told the outlet. “It affects all of us.”

The streets of Queens have witnessed a number of criminal acts over the past year. Security camera footage showed a green-haired man punching a deli employee in June, knocking him unconscious. The victim (62) was hospitalized. In addition to suffering internal bleeding in his head, he suffered a broken nose and lost teeth, according to colleagues.

In July, police said they found a man shot in the head and found “half-dangling” from a U-Haul loaded with marijuana. Gunshots were heard early that morning in Bayside, Queens. A second person nearby told law enforcement that someone stole his phone, but it’s unclear if the two incidents are related.

QNS compared the same 28-day period (August 5th to September 1st) in both 2023 and 2024 using data from the New York City Police Department (NYPD). reported In the Queens Police Department, rapes and robberies increased by 70% and 21.7%, respectively. However, the decrease in grand theft and increase in rape appears to be primarily due to an increase in charges reported to the two precincts.

“Our street trees are a living part of our communities and a vital part of New York City’s green infrastructure. It is the responsibility of all New Yorkers to protect our urban forests, and we believe that tree removal, Any destruction or damage should be reported immediately,” Ben Osborne, New York City’s deputy commissioner for parks, forestry and horticulture, told CBS News.

Andrew Reinman, an associate professor of environmental science at Hunter College, said damage to the cambium cell layer under the bark of tree trucks can be fatal to trees. “When damaged, the movement of sugars from the leaves to the roots is blocked,” the professor explained. “It can effectively kill the food roots.”

“How can we come together as a community to make sure no one ruins our lives here? What can we do as a community, how can we come together, and that’s the bigger question. I think so,” Castro said.

For destroying trees, perpetrators can be sentenced to up to one year in prison and fined.