Reward offered after native plants chopped up, shot at in Tonto National Forest

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, AZ (AZFamily) — A reward is being offered for information that leads to the conviction of the person or people responsible for chopping down saguaros and other native plants near Four Peaks.

The saguaros, some more than 50 years old, were chopped up and shot at last weekend at a Natural Restorations replanting site. Volunteers planted the saguaros there in 2020 and 2024. Some of the cacti were up to 60 years old.

“They were established and thriving in the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar,” the nonprofit said in a Facebook post.

Now, the nonprofit is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to a conviction in this case.

In all, 12 saguaros, six barrels, four hedgehogs and several prickly pear and cholla plants were damaged.

In Arizona, it’s illegal to remove, harvest, or transport native plants from any property without the landowner’s written permission and a permit from the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

“A lot of work went into salvaging & saving these saguaros from construction destruction & it’s heartbreaking to see someone hack them up,” the nonprofit said.

Two to three feet of some saguaros were chopped off the top, and the heads were tossed into the desert, the nonprofit said. Some of the saguaros had bullet and BB holes in them.

“If you saw anyone target shooting from the 2nd staging area at Four Peaks over the weekend, please contact law enforcement,” the nonprofit said.

Tonto National Forest’s Mesa Ranger Station can be contacted at 480-610-3300.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.