Plantings destroyed in Geneva

Apparently not everyone wants to beautify downtown Geneva.

A vandal threw 180 plants, and the 12 plastic liner boxes they were in, off the north side of the State Street bridge, between midnight and 8 a.m. Thursday.

The flowers had been planted by employees of Scentimental Gardens, a Geneva business, as part of the Geneva Beautification Committee's annual effort to decorate downtown Geneva. The plants and liners were valued at $630; the labor donated was worth $120, according to a police report.

"It was really shocking to us," said Geneva 4th Ward Alderman Dorothy Flanagan, who works with the GBC. In the past, vandals have ruined one or two of the 50-some plantings throughout downtown but never this many at one time, she said.

The committee has since figured out a way to secure the liners in the wood bridge boxes. And Flanagan hopes if anybody has information about the vandalism, they'll notify Geneva police.

The committee will purchase replacement flowers for the boxes with its own money. The committee raises money with an annual spaghetti dinner and by selling firewood. It also accepts donations at Geneva City Hall, 22 S. First St.

Last year, the committee won a Governor's Home Town Award for its work. It does three plantings per year. Flanagan has in the past called the displays the "icing on the cake" of the picturesque downtown.

"They took and destroyed my icing," she said.