Arrest made in the Toomer’s Corner tree poisoning case
February 18th, 2011 - 12:55 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattAuburn, Feb 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A 62-year-old man was arrested for poisoning the 130-year-old Toomer’s oak trees that served as a landmark for the city.
Scientists ruled that the tree had been given “lethal amounts” of herbicide that would eventually kill it. The police have charged Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr. with first-degree criminal mischief.
He has currently been given a bail but officials say that if he is convicted, he could face up to 10 years in jail for his action.
A caller on the 27th of January called onto a local radio show called “The Paul Finebaum Show”. The caller told the host of the show that “The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn, Ala. - I live 30 miles away - and I poisoned the two Toomer’s trees. I put Spike 80DF in them.”
The caller then told the host that the tree is not yet dead but it would eventually die. The next day many people gathered around the tree and many people wondered how anybody would want to do that to the tree.
The officials of the city have sworn that they would do anything to save the oaks.
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Tags: 10 years, ala, auburn, criminal mischief, first degree, herbicide, iron bowl, landmark, oak trees, old man, paul finebaum, radio, scientists, toomer