Not only is Mark Korinek confused as to why a vandal chopped down a maple tree at Seeliger Elementary School, he is heartbroken.
"Who would do something like this?" he asked. "Ridiculous. I feel like I'm standing at a gravesite."
The school district's director of operations helped work out a partnership last fall where the National Guard donated 40 trees that had to be removed to make way for solar structures being built at the Office of the Adjutant General complex.
"It was really unique," Korinek said. "We put in a great amount of work, and we saved 40 trees."
The relocation was done with help from the Greenhouse Garden Center and Healthy Trees.
In April, The Carson City Shade Tree Council presented the George Washington Ferris Award to the organizations involved as part of the annual Arbor Day Celebration.
Korinek said he received a call this week about the vandalism from the school's groundskeeper. When Korinek went to investigate, he found a double-bit ax on the ground next to the fallen tree.
He suspects it was chopped down sometime over the weekend, but neighbors said they didn't see or hear anything unusual.
"I imagine it made some noise while they were chopping," Korinek said.
The tree, one of eight replanted at the school, was along a public pathway that runs adjacent to the soccer field that is used by community soccer clubs. The sagebrush lot next to the field is also a popular place for kids and teens to congregate with trails and bike ramps built through the brush.
"We could fence it off so no one could get in here, but that's not what we want to do," Korinek said. "I would rather we all could work together and watch out for each other. It will make it better for everybody."
Korinek is hopeful someone with information will step forward to prevent similar incidences.
"It's Nevada, you don't want to see any tree die," he said. "There's not a lot of them."