ORO VALLEY, Ariz. — The Arizona Department of Agriculture is investigating whether a Marana golf course improperly uprooted saguaro cacti to make room for an upcoming tournament.
Members of the Gallery Golf Club began voicing concerns last month after they noticed a couple of saguaros had been removed from the property.
The golf club told KVOA News they had planned to relocate the saguaros but ended up removing them because they were "unstable."
But now the Department of Agriculture is checking whether penalties should be enforced for not getting permission beforehand to take down the cacti.
Heather Flowers, assistant director of the agency, told 12News that the golf club is currently under investigation for potentially violating legal protections given to Arizona's cacti.
ADOA requires property owners to notify the agency or obtain a permit before moving native plants that are protected under Arizona law.
A landowner must notify ADOA within a certain amount of time before they intend to destroy the native plant. The state agency then must provide any interested "salvage operators" with notice of the pending plant removal, the agency's codes state.
A state agency wishing to remove a protected plant species from public lands must either sell the plant at a public auction, move it to another piece of land owned by the state or donate it to a nonprofit organization.
A violation of the state's removal procedures could result in a misdemeanor charge or civil penalty.
Arizona's iconic cactus has been subjected to various types of nefarious activities over the years by those who try to profit off of a unique plant species that can't be found outside of the Sonoran Desert.
There's even been a black market of thieves stealing Arizona's cactuses and trading them for drugs or money.
In 2013, a Scottsdale man was convicted of stealing several saguaros from federal lands and selling them for $2,000 each. He was placed on probation for five years and ordered to pay $32,000 in restitution.
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