For more than 45 years, an old Tuckeroo tree has stood resolutely beside the Roberts family home at Wategos.
Back in the day, the Roberts kids would climb the tree and hang Christmas lights on its branches. Decades later, as adults, they appreciated the shelter it provided and the birds that rested among the leaves.
So it was with shock and sadness when Megan Roberts discovered 11 neat holes drilled deep into the old Tuckeroo’s roots when she arrived for a visit late last year.
‘I’d just come up for a little holiday, and I noticed that the canopy was dying and looking brittle,’ says Ms Roberts, who grew up in the home with her brother Heath, sister Rachel, and their parents.
‘I knew that the tree had been damaged about 12 months before, but it had been regenerating well so it shouldn’t have been looking like that.
‘I feared as I went down to have a look that it might have been poisoned and that was unfortunately confirmed when I got there.’
Every one of the Tuckeroo’s roots had a large round drill hole in it and, judging by the tree’s sickly state, poison had been poured in.
‘The bark is drying out and peeling off… It might take months, but I’d say by this time next year, it will probably be gone or partially gone,’ Ms Roberts says.
Herbicide suspected
The Roberts family informed Byron Shire Council, who inspected the tree and confirmed that it had been intentionally damaged, most likely with a 12mm drill bit or another similar implement.
The Council officer further deduced that the poor health of the tree suggested that herbicide had been used.
‘Herbicides such as glyphosate or aminopyralid are commonly used in this manner to poison large mature trees,’ the officer said in subsequent correspondence to the Roberts family.
He further indicated that the police had been notified and were investigating the matter.
The Roberts family are aware that tracking down a tree poisoner weeks after the event may prove an impossible task. But they hope that calling out the incident will raise awareness and help prevent future poisonings.
‘When our family bought at Wategos in the late 1970s, it was frankly just a big grassy hill with a few fishing shacks,’ Megan’s brother Heath Roberts said.
‘We’ve been through the whole Wategos journey, and that tree came on the journey with us. I think what’s happened is unfortunately symptomatic [of the changes that have taken place at Wategos]. A lot of what’s happened there is good, but some of it isn’t. We’ve always just loved Wategos so much, but it’s a stretch when you’ve got people killing trees, not to mention on properties that they don’t own.
‘If calling this out stops a similar incident happening in the future then it’s worth it.’
Ms Roberts said she hoped talking about the incident would encourage people to reconnect to Byron’s values.
‘We know that Byron’s changing, but I think people still want to hang on to those core values,’ she said.
‘I think caring for the community and caring for the environment is still really important to a lot of people.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
