Mysuru: Barely days after miscreants chopped down a sandalwood tree inside the compound of a house at V.V. Mohalla and escaped with the trunk, similar incidents have been reported from Yadavagiri Sixth Main and Paramahamsa Road.

Residents told Star of Mysore that Yadavagiri has a few fully grown sandalwood trees, which have now become easy targets for thieves.

“There is a park on the Sixth Main and a sandalwood tree was cut down a week ago. Last night, there was another attempt to cut a tree near House No. 10 on Sixth Main. We heard dogs barking loudly inside the compounds and on the roads between 1 am and 3 am,” a resident said.

“When we stepped out with torches and lathis, we saw three people fleeing into the dark areas of the park. They had used a mechanical saw to cut a branch to check if the tree was mature enough to chop down later,” she added.

Residents said that last week, when the tree in the park was chopped down, they immediately alerted the Police. “A Garuda patrol vehicle came and drove around with sirens on, but could not trace the culprits. We also called the Forest Department, but the official who answered simply said the trees did not fall under his jurisdiction. We fear all the sandalwood trees here will eventually be stolen,” another resident said.

In the earlier incident at V.V. Mohalla, miscreants had cut down a nearly 10-ft tall sandalwood tree inside the compound of Naveen’s   house on 16th Cross.

CCTV footage from the house shows three people chopping the tree at about 1 am and making off with the trunk. Jayalakshmipuram Police have registered a case and collected the footage for investigation.