'Yarn bomb' planned in West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) - A group of advocates in West Lafayette has a crafty plan to bring attention to the importance of trees in the city.

The West Lafayette Tree Fund - which has spearheaded the planting of about 5,000 trees over its 30 years - is planning a "yarn bombing." Volunteers have been knitting and crocheting sweaters of sorts for dozens of trees near the Purdue University campus, and they hope that the colorful covers will help protect the trees from careless or malicious damage.

"Yarn bombing has been done in hundreds of communities, but never, to our knowledge, with the goal of deterring vandalism. We hope this awareness campaign will reduce the number of broken trees," Greenspace Administrator Beverly Shaw told 24-Hour News 8 sister station WLFI-TV .

The decorated trees will also get signs with messages such as "Future home of chubby squirrels" and "I can magically turn sunlight into food", organizers said.

"We hope our colorful efforts won't go unnoticed and people realize how much these trees mean to everyone," said Tree Fund Chairwoman Lynn Layden.