LU COUNTY / CHINA — A park in southwest China has closed for the rest of 2019 after tourists plucked its famed lotus flowers, reports the South China Morning Post.<br /><br />The sprawling fields of flowers at Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park cover around 250,000 square metres or 62 acres – an area about the size of New York's Grand Central Terminal. <br /><br />Since late March, the park has been closed and fenced off for construction and was due to reopen soon.<br /> <br />But since the start of summer suspected visiting tourists are breaking into the park and ripping the flowers from their roots.<br /><br />Pictures from Red Star News show individuals trudging into the muddy waters and coming out stocking bunches of the long-stemmed, and now pillaged flowers. <br /><br />A member of staff surnamed Zhou told Red Star News, "We cannot control the tourists - We've put notes on the park gate and near the flower field and we have security personnel on patrol as well."<br /><br />Zhou continued, saying that the construction work in the park was near complete but that there was little point in reopening because there were virtually no flowers left to see.<br /><br />It is estimated that between 200 to 300 people may still be breaking into the park on a daily basis. <br /><br />Zhou said, "We've already repaired the fencing five times this year."<br /><br />The park's management said it has stepped up its number of security personnel in response to the threat.
