A man deliberately chopped down trees with a chainsaw so they would fall on newly built homes in a North Carolina neighborhood, a police chief said.
A builder first discovered on March 24 that a home in East Spencer had been damaged by a tree, East Spencer police chief John H. Fewell, Jr. to McClatchy News.
At first, Fewell said, he thought the damage was caused by a weather event or an accident.
On March 27, a real estate agent showing the house next door found it had been hit by a tree, Fewell said.
A tree had fallen through the roof and crashed halfway into the house, he said. The damage was so severe that it would have to be rebuilt.
According to Queen City News, markings on the stumps also showed they had been deliberately felled.
At that point Fewell said he knew the damage was not accidental.
“Someone is trying to damage these houses and we need to find out why,” he said.
According to Queen City News, the houses are two of four new homes built on Third Street, a cul-de-sac residential street.
Later that day, Fewell said officers arrested a man who was “known throughout the community” and had been seen cutting down trees in the area. He was charged with two counts of felony property damage.
He was released on personal acknowledgment.
Fewell said detectives still don’t know why the man tried to damage the homes.
“I have a good feeling it was malicious because of the way he tried to cover it up,” he said.
East Spencer is about 43 miles northeast of Charlotte.
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