It's the fourth time something like this has happened in Val Venosta. An apple orchard (Ambrosia variety) was damaged and has completely dried up. Local TV network Video 33 reported the fact and it most likely seems that herbicide was scattered all over the orchard.
Image taken from the Video 33 story
"It's a tragedy, we're in tears. We don't know what they used but it was very potent and the dosage was very high, maybe it wasn't even diluted. We will have to wait for the analyses to tell us more, but nothing will give us our orchard back," reported producer Thomas Ladurner from Parcines.
Image taken from the Video 33 story
Two thousand plants were affected, causing hundreds of thousands of Euro's worth of damage. A large area of dried up grass marks the spot where the vandals tried out the herbicide. They probably used a pump and acted during the night, as the orchard is right by a busy road.
Parcines is well known not only for its apples but also for the most important typewriter museum in Europe and for the Forst brewery.
Over the past three months, similar acts were reported to the police but unfortunately there is no insurance for it, as no-one would normally dream of insuring an apple orchard against acts that can only be described as eco-terrorism.
