In Another Sign of the Times, World's Most Hopeful Symbol Vandalized

I vividly remember when the news came out that an Alabama fan took his inner hatred (and his herbicides) out on the iconic, 80-year-old oak trees on Auburn's campus (Toomer's Corner). I was honestly so shocked, so saddened, so mortified that any person would kill a defenseless, living being, over a bitter, in-state college football rivalry. But it's Alabama, where people literally murder each other over football. 

As I'm sure you know, those trees were a long-standing symbol of school spirit, tradition, and success. And in the blink of an eye (or the speed of a "kick six"), they were gone, and a piece of that University's tradition was gone with it. 

I know, I know, everything dies. But you have to admit, there's something particularly sad when an emblem of joy and beauty is prematurely destroyed or is put in serious danger for no good reason. 

Unfortunately, in another harbinger of the SHITTY stretch we're living through right now, that's just what happened to one of the great symbols of hope on earth. According to CBS News, the most famous tree in New Zealand, and possibly in the world, was horribly vandalized. The tree is said to be "a worldwide symbol of hope" and one of the most, picturesque and iconic scenes in all of New Zealand. 

According to the report, "Branches appear to have been hacked off of the willow tree, which stands alone semi-submerged in the water at the southern tip of the lake, on New Zealand's South Island." 

What kind of fucking loser does this?

A beautiful, lone tree in the middle of a placid lake has weathered 20 straight years of the rise and fall of the tide, and some idiot decided in the middle of a PANDEMIC he was going to treat this sacred being like his personal banzai tree? 

It's not like there are a ton of hopeful signs around us. Just look around you right this second. We're all in fucking quarantine. So I have a message for the psychotic prick who hacked this tree. Can you not leave your house with a machete and attack one of the last signs of hope we have remaining on earth during a goddamn PANDEMIC? 

Please and thank you.