Plastic leaves grafted onto bare trees puzzle citizens  

盐城秃树安塑料树叶被指“绿化造假” 官方正调查

(ECNS) -- Artificial green leaves have been grafted onto bare trees beside a road in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, gog.com.cn said on Friday.

Is this a fraudulent "greening project" or a prank?

The municipal green administrative department in Yancheng responded that it had started an investigation.

Different kinds of trees line a green belt of the city's Century Avenue intersection. The most eye-catching ones are three camphor trees. Unlike the other trees, with their winter golden leaves, these trees still have green leaves.

Upon closer inspection, a reporter found that these leaves were made of plastic and were attached to the trees with nails.

Some residents doubted that the fake leaves were put on the trees to help the city's green agency fulfill its forestation tasks.

An official from the tree planter, a local landscaping company, said the fake leaves might have been put on there by students from nearby schools as a joke.

"Trees in the green belt were just planted in May this year, and the company has long been taking care of them. All the trees we planted are live ones," said the official surnamed Zhao.