POLICE are on the trail of a view-hungry West Vancouver resident who apparently resorted to forging municipal letterhead in a bid to trick neighbours into topping their trees.
The unidentified writer sent fake notices to residents of Westhill Drive in early August reminding them of an imaginary "good neighbour policy," that requires that gardens be "kept free of untidy weeds" and that trees be topped at two metres above the roof line.
The writer, using questionable grammar, went on to claim that violations could result in fines of up to $30,000, and that inspections would begin Sept. 1. The letters featured a forged West Vancouver emblem and were ascribed to "John Barrow, director of garden regulations," a fictitious district employee.
West Vancouver police became aware of the notices on Wednesday when a district bylaw officer passed along a copy. The force sent out a warning to the community early Friday.
"This is someone who spent time devising a very creative way to get their way," said Cpl. Fred Harding, a spokesman for the WVPD. "It's an extremely well crafted fraud."
While incidents of unsolicited tree cutting - particularly aimed at clearing a view - are "not uncommon" in West Vancouver, according to Harding, this more indirect approach is a first in his experience. "It's more ingenious," he said. "To get the homeowner to take (trees) down themselves, it saves you the trouble of either getting some ne'er-do-well off the street to go and carry out the crime or of going down (yourself) to poison it with diesel. . . . This is the West Vancouver way of getting things done, I guess."
Harding was not aware of anyone who had fallen for the scam, and as of Friday morning, the force did not have a suspect, he said. Investigators were already getting calls from other residents who had received the letter, however.
"It looks like it's gone out to the entire area," said Harding. "Maybe they've selected the houses they wanted it to go to which have large trees. . . . I'd like to go down to Westhill with a tape measure. (We'd) see which house it came from, I'm sure."
Anyone who has received the false notice is asked to contact the WVPD. The information may help investigators track down the culprit, said Harding.
"There might be one envelope we can get some fingerprints on, especially if someone is coming home from holiday right now and finds it in their mail," he said.
If caught, the sender could be charged of forgery, said Harding.
