"It's a shame there are those who have such a complete lack of respect not just for the gift, but also for the beauty of nature," Monaco's consul general in New York, Maguy Maccario Doyle, said Wednesday.
The trees that were taken were in a special grove dedicated to victims from the nearby Throgs Neck area.
The saplings were stolen in January, said Dorothea Poggi, who heads Friends of Ferry Point Park, a volunteer group that works to preserve and improve the park. Poggi replanted five of the trees after they were uprooted and left nearby last year.
"I feel sorry for anybody that would do something like this," she said.
