Estonia’s serial tree feller, who stalked dozens of trees in a cemetery in the national capital, appears to have been caught in the act, police said on Friday.
”We arrested a 74-year-old man as he was cutting down a tree at Liiva cemetery with a handsaw,” police spokesperson Reimo Raivet told reporters. ”His answers to our questions did not seem very coherent, so we have handed him over to medical doctors.”
More than 50 trees have been damaged at the cemetery in the past two months, their trunks cut halfway through with a saw.
Some trees fell on graves, damaging tombstones. Although no one was hurt, authorities feared the vandalism posed a lethal threat to visitors.
”We cannot say now what his motive was in cutting down the tree,” the police spokesperson said. ”We will continue the investigation into whether he is the serial feller after doctors say he is fit for further interrogation.”
Cemetery workers who have stepped up inspections in recent weeks discovered four more damaged trees on Thursday and cordoned them off.
Another dozen trees had been marked, apparently destined to become the bad feller’s next victims. — Sapa-AFP