Suspect arrested for cutting down 4,000 acacia trees in Nghe An

Acacia garden of 4,000 trees was chopped down to the roots by bad guys in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - About 4,000 acacia trees over 1 year old were cut down close to the roots, causing a farmer in Anh Son district (Nghe An) to lose tens of millions of dong.

On July 2, the Criminal Police Department of Con Cuong District Police arrested and detained Mr. Nguyen Huu Tinh (residing in Hamlet 7, Thanh Son Commune, Anh Son District) to serve the investigation of the case of cutting down acacia trees close to the roots in Ke Gia Village, Thach Ngan Commune, Con Cuong District.

Phung Van Hue's 1-year-old acacia garden. Photo: Dao Tho

As reported by Baonghean.vn: According to the report of the family of Mr. Phung Van Hue and Ms. Tran Thi Hoa (residing in hamlet 4, Thanh Son commune, Anh Son district), on the night of June 23, the family's more than 1-year-old acacia plantation in Ke Gia village, Thach Ngan commune, Con Cuong district was vandalized by thieves.

Mr. Phung Van Hue said that the acacia destruction lasted for about 20 days, but was most severe on the night of June 23. Before that, he had bought B40 steel mesh to fence it, but it was continuously cut by thieves. The acacia trees that had grown well were all cut down close to the base and destroyed en masse. “They used knives to cut half of the tree’s base. All it took was a strong wind for the acacia to fall, split in two, and die,” Mr. Hue said.

The acacia trees were cut down at the base, and just a gust of wind would split them in two.

Police investigated and found out that Mr. Nguyen Huu Tinh was the suspect in destroying the acacia garden of Mr. Hue and Ms. Hoa.

On the morning of July 3, Mr. Vo Dinh Thanh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Thach Ngan commune added: "Nguyen Huu Tinh was urgently arrested by the police at noon on July 2. The damage was 3,145 acacia trees, worth about 55 million VND. The police are continuing to investigate and clarify the case."