Frustration growing for community gardeners after recent vandalism

Complete destruction and some gardeners brought to tears.

That’s what is being described after a vandalism incident at the ComeUnity Roots Garden behind Victoria Park in Kitchener near the Iron Horse Trail.

Garden coordinator Rebekah Haynes said it happened Aug. 24 sometime between 5 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.

“I showed up and at first there was something in disarray outside of the garden and I noticed that, and then walked up to the garden and there was just complete destruction everywhere. Things pulled out, plants pulled out, plants broken — just mass mess all over the place,” said Haynes.

Haynes said unfortunately, it’s not the first time something like that has happened — although never to that extent.

She said in the past few years, they’ve seen a concerning trend of plants being pulled out or moved. She fears the community garden is being targeted.

“I don’t understand it, it feels like someone has a lot of anger or something. I wish we could actually talk to that person to find out what is going on and how we can resolve this. We put a lot of work into this garden and it’s very frustrating,” said Haynes.

Haynes said their communal gardeners dedicate a lot of time and energy into tending to the plants, and it’s been devastating seeing the vandalism.

“We have some gardeners that move on and find another plot because it’s too much for them,” explained Haynes.

Waterloo Regional Police confirmed to CityNews 570 that they received a report of property damage at ComeUnity Roots Garden last week but at this time, they could not confirm whether they will be investigating the incident.