‘Plant lives don’t matter’: University of Michigan peony garden vandalized in possible Gaza protest
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Numerous peony plants at the Nichols Arboretum were damaged early Sunday in what is believed to have been a protest against the violence in Gaza and the University of Michigan’s refusal to divest from Israel.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) – Thousands of blooming peony flowers were destroyed early Sunday at a University of Michigan garden in a possible protest against the violence in Gaza.
Two-hundredandfiftyplants,about⅓ofthegardenattheNicholsArboretumhadtheirflowerscutoff,leavingbehindbarepatchesinthehistoricgardenthathasbeengrowingsincethe1920s.
“Thesepeoniesarenotjustplants.Theyarelivingbeings.Theyhavebeennurturedovergenerations,andbringjoy,asenseofcommunity,andconnectiontothenaturalworldforsomanypeople,”saidTonyKolenic,thedirectorofMatthaeiBotanicalGardensandNicholsArboretum.
Koleniccalledthedestructionanactofdisregard.
Digdeeper:
Noonehastakencreditforthevandalism,buttheUniversityofMichiganDepartmentofPublicSa
