The young people who set fire to a monumental beech on the De Braak estate near Paterswolde have reported to Natuurmonumenten.
The fire in the approximately 200-year-old tree started Monday evening. A local resident saw that young people were busy with fire near the beech. “Youth has found it necessary to set fire under this monumental beech. It is now literally going up in smoke”, Zwiers concluded the day after the fire.
In the meantime, ‘very young teenagers’ have reported to Natuurmonumenten, the owner of the De Braak estate. “And that’s good of them,” says Zwiers. “They indicate that they never had the intention to smoke the tree, so it was not thought of in advance.”
Zwiers continues: “We don’t talk it right, because you just shouldn’t do it. A conversation will follow soon, and then we’ll make a wise lesson out of it. We’ll figure it out.”