Orchard Vandalism - help needed

Posted on behalf of Laura Kroupa:

As many of you are aware, my husband and I have a cherry farm in Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties. Unfortunately, we discovered yesterday that a young orchard of ours located off M-72 West was hit by vandalism. Over 400 young tart cherry trees were brutally cut down. It is impossible to put into words what we are feeling as a result of this devastational act. These particular trees were only a few years away from being mature enough to harvest. We have lost thousands of dollars in the costs of the trees, as well as in the time and money spent pruning, fertilizing, spraying and caring for these trees over the last 5+ years. Insurance does not believe they will be able to help recover the damage or future loss of income. We will be looking at minimum of an 8 to 9 year set back by the time we are able to plant new trees and get them ready for harvesting. The loss is substantial, not to mention incredibly disheartening that something like this would happen in our area.

There will be a blurb on the news tonight, and we are working on getting articles in the Record-Eagle and Leelanau Enterprise as well. We would appreciate your help in getting the word out, as well as any tips, etc. We are offering a $10,000 reward to find the people responsible. This money is being funded by ourselves, as well as a few other incredibly generous, and very concerned local growers. If you have any information, you may pass it along to the Silent Observer Line. Thank you for your time.

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