By Rebekah Gonzalez
Photo: Getty Images
A couple is being fined after they bulldozed and buried 26 Joshua trees to make room for a home.
Authorities hope the punishment will stop others from destroying the trees.
“I would hope that the person that would otherwise take, remove, bulldoze a Joshua tree would understand that they are facing fairly significant criminal liability for doing so,"
Douglas Poston, supervising deputy district attorney with the San Bernardino County district attorney's office told
The Union-Tribune.
An investigation began on February 11, after a Morongo Basin resident saw his neighbors using a tractor to mow down dozens of twisted trees. The neighbor reported it to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife through a tip line, according to wildlife officials.