AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A community activist, armed with a chain saw and spray paint, is trying to send a message to gangs and drug dealers in an Augusta neighborhood.
Woody Merry used the chain saw Monday to chop down a Bradford pear tree that he said was the meeting spot for drug deals in the neighborhood.
The Augusta Chronicle reports that Merry also spray-painted "GOT COPS" over graffiti. The slogan stands for "Get Out of Town; Citizens on Patrol Surveillance."
Lori Davis, a past president of the Harrisburg West End Neighborhood Association, said the tree needed to come down.
She said an elementary school opened in August across the street from the tree, and the surrounding area wasn’t cleaned up. Now, Merry and others say they’re trying to make the neighborhood safer.
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Information from: The Augusta Chronicle.
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First it was families split apart, then children shot to death, now it's trees.
Where is the line, America? Fuzzy puppies? Playful Kittens?
For a while we had all kinds of crime associated with the alcohol trade. We thought better of that. Now we have only alcohol use crimes.
When will we grow a brain regarding the drug trade, America?
Puppies and kittens are in danger!