CHS flower bed vandalized

A flower bed at Carson High School's new agricultural area was vandalized Wednesday night after someone turned on a hose and flooded the bed with about 6,000 gallons of water.

"They turned on a hose and shoved it into one of the beds," Greenhouse Manager Raymond Saliga said Friday.

One flower bed's worth of plants is probably lost, he said.

Because the ground beneath the beds is so deadly to plants and the water was run all night, much of those minerals have migrated up the bed. About 40 small plants were lost.

"It's only one bed's worth," he said.

Saliga estimated the water loss to be 6,000 gallons at a cost of around $50.

"It's senseless little stuff," he said of the vandalism.

He said he found the hose on Thursday morning and has since replaced all of his spigots with ones that lock.

"Lost plants now set us back quite awhile because of the plantings for next year," he said, although the damage could have been much worse.

He said he has put cameras in and around the area so the next time the vandals may be known.

This is the third time the new greenhouse area has been vandalized.

The first time times, vandals targeted the greenhouse and turned off the heating and cooling system, although no plants were killed either time, he said.