The UC Davis Police Department has increased patrols around some campus research fields after anti-genetic engineering activists claimed responsibility last week for destroying three research plantings of sugar beets and corn. In a news release distributed Wednesday, Sept. 15, a group calling itself "Reclaim the Seeds" said it had dug up a sugar beet planting the previous morning and toppled a nearby plot of corn in early August. On the morning of Sept. 16, a graduate student reported that a research planting of corn had been trampled overnight. All three damaged research plots are located west of Highway 113 and south of Hutchison Drive. The incidents came within days of anti-genetic engineering sabotage at UC Berkeley and reflect a new national wave of anti-genetic engineering activism, spawned by similar activities in Europe. In the UC Berkeley attack, more than 800 corn plants were destroyed sometime during the night of Sept. 13. While Reclaim the Seeds also claimed responsibility for that attack, the Berkeley plot turned out to contain conventional, rather than genetically engineered, corn. While investigating the most recent campus damage, UC Davis police found that the vandals had left a message near the corn plot, warning researchers to halt their efforts. "We're taking this very, very seriously," said UC Davis Police Chief Calvin Handy. "Discovery of the message at the site moves this from an act of vandalism into the arena of terrorism." Third attack in a week The news release announcing the UC damage was issued by Genetix Alert, which identified itself as an "independent news center, which works with other above-ground, anti-genetic engineering organizations." It said the destruction of the UC Davis sugar beets was the third attack on genetically engineered test sites in the United States that week. In a statement issued with the news release, Reclaim the Seeds said the acts were "self-defensive measures on behalf of all beings against Monsanto, (UC Davis) and the university system's corporate boot-licking, and the global GE takeover. "This was also done in response to UC Davis' recent collaboration with Jackson Laboratory, the world('s) largest distributor of genetically altered mice," the statement said. "UC Davis needs to understand that genetic engineering of any kind will not be tolerated." Dean Neal Van Alfen of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences said, "The destruction of research is despicable and runs counter to what a university is all about -- the search for knowledge and the free exchange of ideas. "The long-term goal of the technology is to reduce pesticide use, make more efficient use of water and fertilizers, improve nutritional quality, and increase crop yield," added the dean, who was a leader of the Crop Biotechnology Center at Texas A&M University before joining UC Davis Sept. 1. Last target was ice-minus bacterium It has been 15 years since activists targeted genetically engineered crops at a UC campus. In 1987-1988, UC Berkeley researchers working with a Bay Area biotechnology company faced considerable public protest over field-testing of strawberry plants that had been genetically engineered with the "ice minus" bacterium for frost resistance. Strawberry and potato plants carrying the ice-minus bacterium were destroyed in Brentwood and Tule Lake, respectively. "We dealt with the safety issues related to genetically modified crops more than a decade ago, and it seemed that U.S. consumers had come to understand the technology," said Martina McGloughlin, director of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program. "It appears that these recent acts of vandalism are directly related to protests against genetically altered crops in Europe." During the past two years, there has been growing public opposition in Europe to genetically modified crops and the food products made from those plants. Activists have destroyed research plots, and European governments have moved from labeling genetically modified foods to banning importation of such products. The European Union has placed a two-year moratorium on importing genetically modified crops. Activities throughout the United States now indicate a new fear of genetic engineering among consumers here, as evidenced by a Berkeley school board's recent banning of genetically modified foods. Last month, activists claimed responsibility for destroying a research planting of genetically modified corn at the University of Maine. On Sept. 1, a plot of corn at Pioneer-Hi-Bred's seed research facility in Minnesota was trampled. The vandals replaced the company's sign with a sign reading "Pioneering Farmageddon." Sugar beets part of a field trial for Round-Up At UC Davis, the decimated quarter acre of sugar beets was part of a field trial being conducted under contract with Monsanto. About 20 percent of the beets had been genetically altered for resistance to the herbicide Round-Up. The campus corn plot trampled Sept. 15 was not genetically engineered. Researchers from the Division of Biological Sciences were looking at naturally occurring mutations in hopes of solving certain physiological problems that often plague corn plants. The corn destroyed earlier in August was genetically engineered for herbicide resistance by Monsanto. Researchers and police have not yet placed a dollar value on the damage to the three plots. While the police don't have specific suspects in any of the three incidents, a thorough examination of the sites did yield numerous clues for further investigation, Handy noted. He said an arrest in the case could result in one or more felony charges, depending on the cost of the damage. The police department has increased patrols of research crops and is suggesting departments may also want to hire special security officers to patrol certain research fields. Police Chief Handy says he also hopes to discuss with campus researchers and administrators long-term security plans for genetically engineered crops. In the meantime, the police ask that anyone who has seen anything suspicious or has information related to the crime contact UC Davis Police Capt. Michael Corkery at (530) 752-3870 or Capt. Rita Spaur at (530) 734-8111 or call the UC Davis Crime Tip Line at (530) 752-9944. Callers to the Crime Tip Line may choose to remain anonymous.