Butler Park was robbed of one of its youngest residents.
After years of industrial use at the corner of Butler and Otter Point roads, a local group of volunteers the Otter Point Community Restoration Society (OPCR) came together to revitalize the area with native vegetation. But their recent efforts seem to have been co-opted, as one of the young trees the group planted has been poached from the park.
Heather Phillips, a volunteer with OPCR, called it "incredibly disappointing."
"When Otter Point volunteers went to check on the park, they found someone had taken one of the dogwoods. Could that person please return the tree? What were they thinking?" Phillips said.
"Yes, it is public property, but that doesn’t mean anyone can take things or do as they please. Public property is for people to share and enjoy."
The small park is managed by the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission on behalf of the Capital Regional District. After years of construction materials and equipment being left behind following the paving of Otter Point Road, members of OPCR have come together to replant trees and shrubs and help bring the area back to life. This year, they partnered with Tree Canada to plant several Eddy’s White Wonder dogwoods in the park.
While the Eddy’s White Wonder is not a local tree, it was chosen for its resistance to disease that has killed many local dogwoods. But unfortunately, it is not immune to being dug out of the ground and carried off.
"It was quite wonderful because we felt we couldn’t afford such a mature tree – and somebody took one," said Phillips.
When Phillips checked in on the saplings on May 6, they were all accounted for. But when she returned on May 15, the small tree was gone, with only a hole and a crooked support beam left in the ground where it once stood – they even took the chicken wire protecting it.
As to why the tree was stolen, Phillips has no idea. Her leading theory is that the tree was given away as an ill-got Mother’s Day gift.
"If you got an Eddy’s White Wonder for Mother’s Day, you should find out where your kid got it," she said.
While flora theft is rare, Phillips said it's not unprecedented.
"I was talking to someone who worked with the District of Sooke parks, and she said they often lost perennials or annuals, mostly out of the planting beds. People would help themselves to one in five, that kind of thing," she said.
"So it has happened, but not so much with trees."
If anyone has information about the missing tree or would like to return it, they can contact the Sooke RCMP by calling the non-emergency line – 250-642-5241 and using the file number WS25-9535.
