Four students have been implicated in an attempt to chop down a tree on the Brunswick Apartments quad Saturday night.
A resident reported the incident to Security at 2:00 p.m. Sunday. "We went over, took our report, photographed the damage, and talked to the complainant and several other individuals," Director of Security Bruce Boucher said. "We filed our original report Sunday and discussed it with the deans on Monday."
Tim Vail of Vail's Tree Service said an axe was probably used. "Either a very dull old camping axe or a machete [was used]," he said. "They just kept going at it, and cut 50 percent through. Good judgment definitely didn't resonate."
Director of Residential Life Bob Graves contacted Facilities Management on Monday to find out if the tree could be saved. "I was told it would need to be replaced, and the rough estimate to do this was $9,000.00," he said. "This information was sent to the RAs in Brunswick, and they shared it with their residents Monday afternoon."
Hours later, Res Life had a list of names to investigate. Since then, four individuals have admitted their involvement and made statements to Security.
Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster called it a "senseless act of destruction" and Dean of Student Affairs Craig Bradley said the incident was obviously intentional. "It was not a couple of swings of an axe; it must have taken quite some time to do this," he said.
The tree, a little-leaf European Linden, has since been cut to ground level.
"We had to take it down, because there was no way to support it," Vail said. "It certainly wasn't safe to leave it."
The tree was estimated to be between 12 and 15 years old and was one of four Lindens grown in the College's nursery, which used to sit just south of the Farley tennis courts.
It was not clear Friday what punitive measures would be taken against the students, but Foster indicated that the decision will be made Monday.
"At this point, I truthfully do not know what is likely to be the punishment," Graves said. "My colleagues and I will have to get together up to discuss what the appropriate response should be."
In a revised estimate this week, Vail told the College that removing the old tree, grinding the stump, purchasing and transporting a comparable tree to campus, and planting and caring for that tree will cost the College approximately $6,500.00.
"The particular species can't be replaced," Vail said. "We'll probably put a maple in there."
Vail added that additional was damage done on the Brunswick quad. "There were some broken limbs on two or three other trees, so we pruned those up," he said.
Several members of the College administration expressed their disapproval of the incident.
"Vandalism and destruction of college property are all too common, [but] destruction like this is unprecedented," Graves said.
"In the four years I've been here, I have not seen any attempts to cut down trees," Boucher said
In incidences of vandalism, Graves said that Res Life works with Security and Facilities to identify individuals responsible for damage but when no one takes responsibility, they are forced to bill residents of a building or complex for the cost.
"This behavior is out of the ordinary," Bradley said. "We have not seen this sort of vandalism on the Bowdoin campus this year. In purely monetary terms, it is the most expensive damage we have seen in years.
"Ivies is traditionally pretty raucous," he added. "Many students enjoy themselves and, in general, [they] respect one another and the campus."