[Updated] Tree Planted To Memorialize Duffy Student Cut Down

[Updated 2:15 p.m. Monday] Police spokesman Lt. Ted Stoneburner said in a telephone interview that police located a second tree near the Duffy Elementary School playscape that was nearly cut down.

Stoneburner said that the second tree was nearly three-quarters of the way cut down. The town's public works department removed the second tree Monday, Stoneburner said. The second tree is twice the size of the one that was dedicated to Connor Sorensen that was cut down entirely, Stoneburner said.

"It looks like a small handsaw was used," Stoneburner said.

That a second tree was cut could mean that the Sorensen tree was not necessarily targeted, Stoneburner said. Police are still investigating, Stoneburner said.

[Original Story] A 15-foot tree planted to honor the memory of a Duffy Elementary School student who passed away two years ago was cut down by vandals over the weekend, according to police.

The tree, planted behind Duffy in the memory of student Connor Sorensen who died accidentally while tubing in Vermont on June 30, 2011, appears to have been cut down with a handsaw. A nearby bench on the playground was also cut with what appeared to be a saw. Several windows were also pushed open at the school.

The tree, which was planted on Sept. 30, 2011, was dragged to a nearby basketball court, according to police.

Police said the damage occurred sometime between 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10.

Sorensen was 10 years old when he passed away. Two of his sisters are currently Duffy students.

"He was engaging, bright, and someone who made you want to say, ‘This is why I love children,’” Kathleen Tracy, who was then-principal of Duffy, said in June 2011. "He was such a beautiful child."

According to a press release, police canvassed the area on Sunday, "which yielded a negative result. Neighbors in the area reported kids are at the school every day playing basketball."

West Hartford Assistant Chief of Police Robert McCue said that police are still investigating.

Anyone who has information on the incident is encouraged to call the police Detective Division at 860-523-5203.