Red Bank police are now investigating repeated acts of vandalism on street trees after young specimens on Monmouth Street were attacked a second time Wednesday night, just hours after a post-attack pruning by the Shade Tree Committee.

Six Japanese tree lilacs planted three years ago alongside the Station Place apartments on Monmouth Street were found Wednesday to have been mutilated. On Thursday, those same trees, and others along Monmouth Street, were found to have suffered a second wave of damage, in which one or more attackers “ripped off all the lower branches” of the trees, said committee member Boris Kofman.

Committee Chairwoman Remedios Quiroz tells redbankgreen that some of the trees are so badly damaged they may have to be replaced.

At the request of Councilman Erik Yngstrom, police are now involved. Chief Darren McConnell said the department will keep a close eye on the area while it investigates, but had no leads as of Friday morning. Trees are protected under borough ordinance. (Photos by Boris Kofman. Click to enlarge.)