That IS an awesome picture! I had to stare at it for a few seconds before I realized it was toilet paper and not snow/ice! :)

I say the Auburn fans should be allowed to tar & feather this perp! I'm curious to see what other charges may be made against this guy.

Someone on Facebook has noted that the guy lived in Texas for awhile and wondered if he might have been the one to damage the Treaty Oak there, which survived an attack--barely.

Auburn is gonna have to take out tons of soil from that spot and who knows if anything will grow there again?

Who is Al from Dadeville, aside from a nut?

I thought that guy already served time.

My next question was going to be the impact on surrounding vegetation and groundwater...Are the trees in bad shape now? Will it be a long death, or will it be sudden? If this had been discovered sooner, could the consequences have been mitigated?

He called in saying he was "Al from Dadeville." I don't know how large Dadeville is, but there can't be too many guys there named "Al." He didn't care to disguise himself.

I have heard that they weren't in top shape before being poisoned but pretty good for their age. They appear okay now because they're in winter dormancy; obvious damage would start in the spring, about a month away in Auburn.

On TV, the professors said that the trees will likely start to yellow, then maybe turn green and have a year of more of apparently good health, and then die. They're removing soil now but they think that besides the live oaks, more trees and shrubs will be affected. The groundwater shouldn't be hurt because of the soil type (silty clay, which is pretty tightly packed).

Someone on FB suggested half in jest that we replace the trees with bronze ones so they couldn't be hurt. Well, I don't know if anything can ever grow there again, even if they remove the soil way down.

Someone's gonna have to answer to this guy :D

This is just appalling. It feels like the trees were murdered. And I've only been to Auburn once!
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LOL! This guy needs to get a hold of the tree murderer! :)

This is just sad. :(

Just playing the environmental scientist devil's advocate.... but depending on the amount of herbicide he dropped (has that been said yet?), and the depth to the most shallow groundwater table, the contamination could still be an issue. A "dig and haul" (what they're doing now) is going to be the best bet for immediate results. I'm not an arborist, but I feel like there is something out there that when applied can counter the effects?

In interesting FYI related news, I sample hybrid poplar trees once a year (about 2,000 trees) that were planted over an extremely concentrated TCE plume. The trees are actually remediating the chemical on their own. :)

I'm horrified. If someone had come onto LSU's campus and destroyed our Indian Mounds, there would be hell to pay. It's desecration. What a blow to the Auburn community and to the environment.

I know! Can you imagine if some moron did this to the Grove at Ole Miss? I would die!

No, I really can't. I guess I can't understand having such a rivalry that you'd do something like that to your own state, either.

It's just a shame that such nutjobs exist.

How bad is this herbicide to wildlife? Could there be a complete wipeout of helpless critters?

What happened is a travesty and complete destruction of natural beauty. Horrible.