A non-profit organization in Guilford is asking for the public's help after a garden built by volunteers was struck twice by vandals.
Roses for Autism is a non-profit organization based in Guilford. In 2015 they began a project to build a public sensory garden. The group said they raised nearly $12,000 for the project and volunteers spend over 1,000 building the garden.
According to the group’s organizers, on June 2, volunteers discovered plants purchased for the gardens had been stolen and a trellis damaged. The incident was reported to police. Officers later returned with plants they purchased with their own money to purchase to replace what was stolen. Grateful volunteers quickly planted the donations.
However, group organizers said that on Monday when volunteers arrived someone had dug up the plants and stolen garden statues and lawn ornaments.
The garden was scheduled to open on June 24, but it has been postponed until volunteers can raise the funds to fix the damage.
“The vandals don’t realize the ripple effects of their actions,” Michelle Ouimette. The managing director of Roses for Autism said in a release. “The hardest part is trying to explain to our supporters why this has happened twice in the last ten days thus forcing us to cancel our ribbon cutting event until we are able to rebuild.”
Roses for Autism is a registered charity organization in Connecticut. For more information visit their website here.
