THE state government has launched an investigation in the poisoning and killing of six mangrove trees at Wellington Point.
Fisheries Queensland inspectors said they were tracking vandals who had illegally cleared and poisoned trees, including the mangroves at the Point, since June.
Anyone found killing mangroves, protected under the Fisheries Act 1994, can be fined up to $351,000.
The protection applies to all marine plants on private, leasehold and public lands regardless of whether the plants are alive or dead.
Since June, Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers have inspected more than five sites where mangroves have been damaged in the Wellington Point area.
A Fisheries Queensland spokesperson said residents notified officers about the destruction, which included illegal clearing, ring-barking and holes drilled in trunks for poisoning.
"If mangroves continue to be recklessly destroyed there could be significant impacts on the precious marine plant resources of Redlands," the spokesman said.
"Any loss of mangroves will have a flow-on effect to the fish and crab populations they support."
Division 1 councillor Wendy Boglary said she would continue to lobby the state for solutions to the mangrove destruction.
She will meet with members of Friends of King Island and Wellington Point State High students who had volunteered to keep a lookout for tree vandals in the area.
The group will visit King Island on Monday to work out a plan of action for patrolling the island and the Wellington Point foreshore and to document existing trees.
"Over the past month, the vandalism that has happened on King Island has been widespread and digusting but now students are on board and we are going to try to put a stop to this," Cr Boglary said.
Investigations are continuing and anyone with information regarding their destruction is urged to contact the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 017 116.
