CAMERA SPOTS FENCE-HOPPING TREE LOPPER
A BELMONT woman has captured footage of a person climbing her fence and pouring poison on her lawn.
The footage, seen by the Geelong Advertiser, is one of a series of incidents that homeowner Alison Tsao says has left her angry and frustrated.
Ms Tsao, who has lived at the Belmont address for several years, says a person has been entering her yard to destroy her garden.
She claims the video shows one of the four recorded trespassing incidents over four months that resulted in the destruction of trees and lawn within her property.
Ms Tsao was first alerted to trespassers on August 10, when her mobile alert system sent her a message stating movement had been detected in the yard between 3.51 and 3.55pm
“When I came home I saw the tree branches on the ground from my window and the bay tree was badly damaged,” she said.
She was left distraught by the incident.
Weeks later the offending changed.
Ms Tsao’s home security system captured footage of a bicycle helmet-wearing person climbing a boundary fence and leaning over into her property.
In the short video, the person can be seen pouring liquid on to a patch of her lawn. Days later that patch of lawn was dead.
On November 2, Ms Tsao received another message alert stating a person had been detected in her yard.
“An intruder entered my backyard and cut the branches of my bay tree,” she said.
“The person was too far away, so I could not clearly see the image, but we could assume it is the same person who chopped my tree.”
The Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria recorded more than 7000 fencing and boundary related disputes in the 2015-16 financial year.
More than 103 complaint calls relating to neighbour disputes in Greater Geelong were lodged over trees, shrubs and creepers were made in this period.
Sixteen of those callers were referred for further advice or mediation.
Ms Tsao has issued a public plea for the offender to stop entering her yard and destroying her trees.
She has urged anyone who has witnessed the intruder to contact police.
Police have been given copies of Ms Tsao’s video footage.