Some miscreants have destroyed several of the trees lately planted on the common. The vandals, if discovered, should be promptly and sharply dealt with.
Halifax Sun and Advertiser, Tue May 16, 1865. Page 2 Column 6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=D90uR9ClOh8C&dat=18650516&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Reminiscent of something more recent:
“Police are investigating after bark was stripped off the trunks of roughly 30 trees throughout the Halifax Public Gardens.
In an email, a municipal official said it’s possible the bark was stripped with an axe or a hatchet and the damage varies from tree to tree. Some of the damaged trees are 200 years old, according to a Halifax Regional Police statement released on Wednesday.”