KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The owners of J.C Holdway, a restaurant in downtown Knoxville, said it recently caught flower vandals in the act on a surveillance video.
"Every so often someone decides to come on by and, who knows what their state of mind is? But they decide to take it out on the plants, rip them out and throw them on the ground," said Joseph Lenn, the owner of J.C. Holdway.
Mabel Ann and her husband, John, were taking in the beauty that the flowers bring to the city on Thursday. They say that destroying the plants doesn't do good for anyone, especially for the flowers themselves.
"It's awful, not only is it vandalism but to just toss them to the ground like that, it's wasting," she said.
The city said that when flowers are destroyed, it doesn't just ruin the beauty of downtown — it also costs the city money.
"Any time you vandalize a plant, it'll cost the city anywhere between $30 - $100," said Chris Webster, the city of Knoxville's horticulture manager.
Webster says the city is creating a new team of five people to monitor the downtown flowers and help in the replanting process.
"Having someone downtown all the time might deter people from vandalizing plants and, instead, we can all enjoy them," says Webster.
Joseph Lenn from J.C. Holdway said they don't plan on criminally prosecuting people involved in uprooting their flowers, but hope that the new plan from the city can result in the outside flowers remaining intact.