Green stick fracture...hilarious.

It's probably a thoughtless kid. Kids do dumb stuff. Or perhaps a dog. Any teeth marks?

I would guess it is a kid on his/her way to school also. There is a family like that who live on my cul de sac and everytime my neighbors or I plant something the little monsters do whatever they can to kill it. The parents are no help either. Their attitude is that if it is planted on "common ground" then it is open for their kids to destroy if they want to. Grrrrrrrrr.

Alexa

No teeth marks. My DH (who has been out of town for the last 90 days, but has finally returned) also thinks that it is a kid. We have a school two blocks away. DH is now armed with a camera, hoping to catch the STM in the act. The good news is that the school down the street is a Catholic School. If the STM's parents won't stop the bad acts, the nuns will.

Check the hunting section of your local store. You can buy fox urine and all kinds of other scents. If you can't catch the kid I'd spray the tree with that. That kid will go to school smelling like a zoo. Serve 'em right.

We experienced similar vandalism years ago. We'd planted two large oaks in the tree lawn out front of our former house, and some local kids slashed the trunks. It was heartbreaking to see the damage, after saving up the money to buy the (expensive!) trees and planting them ourselves.

We made a huge noise about it... filed a report with the cops and told all of the neighbors, and even put a fake surveillance camera in the front window. The neighbors were very supportive and the cops knew who had done it (small town), so we didn't have any more trouble. I kept the trunks wrapped from then on and the trees are giant healthy things now.

Try to get a picture of whoever is damaging your trees, and take it to the cops.

Apparently all my trees needed, in the way of protection, was a very large Texan in the house. (DH is a furniture maker whose shop is attached to our house.)

There not been a single act of vandalism since DH has returned.

Someone was very carefully picking daffodils, leaving about half the number in bloom on any given day. Even that somewhat thoughtful person has not set foot near our gardens.

I would be heartbroken to see trees destroyed.

Florence

Florence, I agree.