Possibly Pilfered Palms Prompt Persistent Police Probe

• Controversial Trees Mysteriously Disappeared from Malibu High School Grounds Two Weeks Ago

BY ANNE SOBLE

How do what is now said to be as many as 85 palm trees disappear from the grounds of Malibu High School without anyone questioning their removal, or being able to provide any information on their current whereabouts?
That’s the question now being investigated by the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station after the school reported the alleged theft of the trees on Saturday, Jan. 31.
MHS principal Mark Kelly told the Malibu Surfside News, “We at Malibu High did not authorize or know the trees were being removed. Similarly, no one at our district office authorized their removal.”
Kelly said, “Our information indicates that several individuals in two white trucks came to campus, removed the trees and filled the holes. I checked with our district office staff who reported that they had not authorized anyone to remove the trees.”
The principal added, “We are at a loss as to who took them and have reported their removal to the Sheriff’s Department.”
Kelly said, “We have heard from both our director of maintenance and operations and the chief financial officer who both reported having no knowledge that the trees were being removed. These were the two individuals with whom we were discussing our options.”
Kelly indicated that the school and the district had been exploring whether some of the trees might remain on campus if moved to other areas on the grounds where they would be less intrusive.
The possibly purloined trees were planted on the campus 12 weeks ago—over the Thanksgiving weekend—under similarly puzzling circumstances, with no public notice of the landscaping project having been provided, by members of the Shark Fund landscaping committee.
As soon as the trees were in the ground, residents in the Malibu Park area began raising the issue that when fully grown, the queen palms could adversely impact their ocean views.
The trees are also viewed as highly flammable, and concerns were expressed about the appropriateness of their use as landscaping in a wildfire prone area.
Kelly said the school had hoped to “recapture some of the financial loss” from removing the trees by selling them to other schools in the district.
The principal added that district staff was in the process of getting an estimate of what it would cost to remove the trees when it appears the palm pilferers took them without permission.
Kelly said that, at this point, the MHS landscaping committee “is not seeking to do any new improvements but have committed to maintaining the many past projects that have been completed in the last several years.”
Mary Hughes-O’Leary, the former head of the landscaping group, told The News there are two witnesses to the incident, both on staff at the school, who have been asked to report what they saw to detectives at Lost Hills.
She puts a value of $10,000 on the missing trees and the labor involved in their planting.
Hughes-O’Leary said, “I was shocked when I learned what happened. I couldn’t believe it was true.” She said, “I am sure someone in the neighborhood hired people and removed [the trees].”
The former Malibu High parent said there were potential buyers for some of the trees to help the volunteer landscaping group partially recoup their loss.
Hughes-O’Leary said, “Most of the visitors to the school come for sports events. There should be more than chain link and asphalt for them and the students.”
In a letter to the editor this week, she urges anyone with information about the incident to call the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 310-456-6652.