MODOT OFFERS MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DAMAGED TREES

The story has changed, but the damage remains.

Missouri Department of Transportation officials say a vandal or vandals cut down and hauled off 10 trees and cut into the trunks of 14 other trees along Highway 74 (Shawnee Parkway).The 24 damaged trees were cypress, pine and maple. Another 42 trees also showed damage, although they weren't cut. "It's hard to tell what happened to them. They think maybe someone could have put a chemical on them," said Angie Wilson, a MoDOT spokeswoman with the department's Sikeston office.

MoDOT area engineer Randy Hitt said Wednesday that 66 trees were damaged by deep cuts. No mention was made of trees having been cut to the ground.

But a report made to Cape Girardeau police on Tuesday by a MoDOT maintenance supervisor disclosed the damage to the 24 trees, a loss estimated at $4,800.

Wilson said that report didn't include the damage to the other 42 trees. That damage was identified by one of the agency's risk management investigators who inspected the trees along the highway.

If all 66 trees die, the loss to taxpayers could amount to more than $10,000, Hitt has said.

The trees were among 180 planted along Shawnee Parkway between Kingshighway and Silver Springs Road earlier this year at a cost of $28,801. The project was funded by the federal government.