Thousands of plants poisoned overnight at garden center

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) – Authorities are looking for the person who spread herbicide on 15,000 plants at a South Carolina garden center, killing them just weeks before the spring planting season.

Greenville County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Ryan Flood estimates damage at $150,000.

He says an employee arriving to open Martin Garden Center on Thursday morning found thousands of plants covered in an orange chemical that kills them.

Flood said in a statement that herbicide was also found in a tub the Greenville center uses to water the plants.

Authorities say they don’t have video from the incident and haven’t identified any suspects.

Martin Garden Center said in a statement on its website that it will be closed until new plants can arrive and investigators finish their work.