Man suspected of vandalizing memorial tree

MU police arrested one teenager after they said he chopped limbs off a memorial tree in Peace Park on Thursday evening.

Maxamillion Shackelford, 18, was arrested on suspicion of institutional vandalism and unlawful use of a weapon, MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said. He said the weapon used was “some sort of knife.”

The tree was planted in the memory of Paige Siddall, a 17-year-old Rock Bridge High School student who was killed in a car accident in November.

Weimer said the Siddall memorial tree did not appear to have been intentionally targeted.

Shackelford was placed on two years of unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to unlawful use of drug paraphernalia at the 13th Circuit Court in October 2006, according to Missouri Case.net. He was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance in March in Circuit Court, according to Missouri Case.net.

In a separate incident in Peace Park, Weimer said a man “jumped up out of a manhole.” Samuel Peiffer, 22, was charged with trespassing.