ROCKWOOD, Mich. – Several Rockwood families are heartbroken after a vandal destroyed more than a dozen trees at Mercure Park in Wayne County.
Police say sometime Sunday (Aug. 4) night, the vandal who was behind the wheel of a truck ran them down, uprooting some and snapping others in half.
“It’s very sentimental because we just come out here sometimes and talk to the tree,” said Alby Skuratovich. “It sounds silly, but that’s what we do. It’s love, and it goes deep.”
Alby and his wife, Mickey Skuratovich, planted the tree in memory of their daughter, who passed away from adrenal cancer at the age of 42.
Mickey says it’s hard to understand why someone would do something like this.
It was difficult for her brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Pat Mercer, too, who lost their son Jeff in 2018, and his memorial tree was destroyed.
The memorial being vandalized is the second time this has happened, and families say they intend to replant the trees.
Rockwood police would only say they have leads in their investigation into who was responsible.
The Skuratovichs aren’t ready to forgive but say they hope this incident and the consequences will allow the person to change the direction of their life.