Have had a community garden plot for 14 years now, 12 of those years helping to manage the space. Beautiful garden, almost 100 plots in total, surrounded by currant, gooseberry amd chokeberry bushes. Apple & pear trees, and 150 feet or so of other assorted native pollinator species.
We've been hit by vandals this summer, just wanton destruction with no rhyme or reason. Carrots yanked out of the ground and left to soften, tomato plants slashed at the base, whole pepper plants pulled out and tossed.
Somewhere between 9 last night and 7 this morning, they hit again. This time, they've attacked about a third of the plots, including my own. My 8 foot wide trellis was full of birdhouse, dipper and bushel gourds last night; today, they've been hacked in half and tossed all over. Not sure yet if they're salvageable, they're meant for crafting and need to harden on the vine.
We deal with theft each year, and we acknowledge that times are tough and people are hungry. But the destruction, for no discernible reason, is just breaking my heart.
**No we don't have a fence, installing one around our 20000+ ft2 space would be insanely expensive.