For the second time in less than a year, vandals have destroyed several young trees recently planted along Shepard Road in downtown St. Paul, city officials said Friday.

South of the Smith Avenue High Bridge, 32 saplings were “cut just a few feet from the ground with their canopies left behind,” according to a St. Paul Parks and Recreation Department social media post.

The trees were planted last October by the city in partnership with the St. Paul nonprofit Tree Trust to replace the riverside canopy destroyed by the emerald ash borer.

It was just a month later that 60 of them were found ripped out of the ground near the Wabasha Street Bridge and tossed into the Mississippi River. Those trees were later replanted by volunteers.

City officials hope to also replace the 32 trees destroyed

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