Vancouver officials are asking for the public's help to identify the culprit in a different type of offence: someone damaged several trees.
The city's park board said in a statement Friday that the limbs and tops of eight trees at Spanish Banks were cut off.
The board believes the conifers, which are located at Tolmie Street and Northwest Marine Drive, were intentionally damaged.
Trees located along city streets are protected under Vancouver's "Street Tree Bylaw," which was passed in 1986.
Those determined to be violating the bylaw face fines of between $50 and $2,000.
Vancouver also has a "Protection of Trees" bylaw, passed about five years ago, which restricts when larger trees can be cut down and addresses intentional damage. Violators of that bylaw can face fines as high as $10,000.
In 2004, a woman admitted to drilling holes in five trees, poisoning three of them, because they were blocking her view of English Bay. June Matheson walked out of court without a record, but did pay a $30,000 fine to replace the three. She also made a $20,000 donation to the park board.
Tree poisoning was also the cause of death of a large chestnut tree in Oak Bay last year. In that case, the person responsible was fined $48,350.
And on Vancouver's Cambie Street, 17 young maples were reduced to stumps in 2015. The city spend thousands of dollars replacing them and launched a police investigation into the incident.
In this case, officials say the full amount the tree vandal owes will be released next week.
In a city with several green spaces, these trees are located in an area where it's difficult for anything to grow due to sandy soil.
"This particular grove provides welcome habitat for local birds, shade for beach goers and also acts as protection from sand whipped up by winds along the beach," the board said.
Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity over the last two weeks is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
With files from CTV Vancouver's Allison Hurst
