An unknown person destroyed several trees at Goleta’s Lake Los Carneros, leaving behind a graveyard of stumps, branches and trunks.

“This is a crime,” said Mark Simonitsch, who spent his afternoon at the park eating lunch, reading a periodical, and gazing at the ducks and birds. “Those aren’t their trees.”

Someone hacked a bunch of trees near a lookout spot by a bench at Lake Los Carneros. The city of Goleta posted four signs warning people that it is illegal to cut down trees.

The park is home to eucalyptus, oak and other trees, and is a community destination for families, people walking and birdwatchers. People fish in the lake and once a year the city of Goleta holds the Dam Dinner community event to bring people together.

On Monday several people looked through binoculars to watch the birds, while Cooper’s hawks flew overhead. Seniors strolled around the lake while children in day care activities marched along the trails.

It is unclear when the trees were felled, but the signs and the carnage indicate that it was recent.

“Trees were illegally cut by an unknown individual,” according to the city signs. “Damaging vegetation and trees is strictly prohibited.”

Simonitsch moved to Goleta about a year ago to be closer to one of his daughters. He’s from Cape Cod and said he’s heard of people doing this sort of thing to create a better view on private property, but not space we all share.

“They think they are creating something good, a view, that’s not the way it works,” Simonitsch said.

He visits the park three times a week.

“You see ducks here you won’t see on the East Coast, that’s for sure,” he said.

He frequently sits on the bench where the trees were cut.

“It’s a smack in the face,” Simonitsch said.

Goleta resident Scott Craig noticed the chopped trees recently and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He and his wife are amateur birders and live in the Lake Los Carneros neighborhood. They frequent the lake nearly every day.

“I saw the signs from a distance and assumed it was for mosquitos found with West Nile, but we couldn’t have imagined the destruction when we came upon it,” Craig said. “It was shocking. Breathtaking. And heartbreaking to think that someone had purposely cleared the mature trees from this secluded vantage point.”

The city of Goleta urges people to report acts of vandalism.

City Councilmember Luz Reyes-Martin said the city will be taking any necessary steps to ensure proper regrowth is managed.

“I’m deeply disappointed by what appears to be vandalism targeting trees and vegetation at Lake Los Carneros,” Reyes-Martin said. “This area is a treasured and beautiful part of our community, and such senseless damage not only harms the environment but also undermines the community pride we take in preserving our open spaces.”

Steve Senesac is a former volunteer with the Santa Barbara Audubon Society. He still manages about 22 bird boxes at the lake that he installed for tree swallows and western bluebirds.

Birds make nests in the boxes and Senesac and other volunteers can track what types of birds are nesting. They monitored how many of the birds fledged and left the nest, and also tracked them to see which ones came back and for how many years they would return.

On Monday, Senesac was emptying a box, spraying it with alcohol to eliminate disease and clearing it for new birds. He said before he got involved with the Audubon Society, he would just drive by the lake and thought it was weed patches.

“It’s really fantastic,” he said. “There are a lot of birds and wildlife. It’s a really easy way to connect into nature.”

Senesac called the cutting of the trees “discouraging.”

“We’re in a position to create heaven on earth and we are creating this kind of hell,” Senesac said. “When they are taking down trees that are maybe 50 to 100 years old, that’s terrible.”