Karaka chainsaw massacre: carnage when native Christmas trees cut down on suburban street

Locals are stumped after eight pohutukawa trees lining a street in an upscale Auckland suburb were inexplicably felled in a chainsaw attack over the weekend.

Police are asking residents of Harborside Drive in Karaka to verify their security footage after a man was seen cutting trees with a chainsaw Sunday night.

The mature miniature pohutukawa trees that grew on the council berms and only weeks after erupting in their seasonal crimson bloom were strewn across the trail and road after the demolition wave.

Auckland City Council staff were called in to clean up the mess on Monday, with once lush trees reduced to sawdust and stumps leveled.

Papakura Board Chairman Brent Catchpole is dismayed and says that ruining so many iconic native Christmas trees that had improved the urban landscape over the past 15 years was incredible.

“I’m horrified. That just destroyed our Christmas spirit,” he said.

Police said today they were called to the area Sunday night to investigate a report of suspicious behavior. A man had been seen cutting down trees on the main street with a chainsaw, but had disappeared before the police arrived.

Manukau County Police Inspector Tony Wakelin said residents believed the alleged offender had been in one of two cars seen drinking in the area prior to the incident.

Today he urged residents to review security footage of houses facing the street to see if the man with the chainsaw or the cars linked to him had been caught on camera.

The destroyed trees were in a section of Harborside Drive between Silkwood Cres and the eastern end of Normanby Rd.

Catchpole said there were reports on social media that neighbors heard a chainsaw in operation but assumed the council had sanctioned the removal of the trees.

“He was not sanctioned at all,” he said.

The trees had been planted about 15 years ago when the suburb along the Manukau estuary developed.

And like many of its bewildered residents, Catchpole was perplexed why anyone would do such a cruel act.

“There is probably one tree for every other house. All you will see now is stumps. The city hall contractors worked all day yesterday cutting them down before they took them away because they were lying across the trail and even on the road and they just left there. .

“Someone is obviously unhappy because there are trees on a berm. Strange, isn’t it?

Police added that the vandalism had really impacted the local community.

“These were mature miniature pohutukawa trees that have been growing for many years. Their destruction has left the residents devastated,” Wakelin said.

Catchpole hoped the security footage would yield answers and identify those responsible or the cars associated with the chainsaw cutter.

Any information can be delivered to the Papakura Police by calling 105 or anonymously at Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.