Vandals caused roughly $15,000 in damages to three research plots in the Department of Plant Pathology's campus farm sometime between 7 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m.Tuesday. The 130-acre farm is located in the area known as the Armstrong Tract on the west side of Old Davis Road, south of Interstate 80 and north of the railroad tracks. "Reclaim the Seeds," the same group that claimed responsibility for similar crop vandalism last week at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, sent a communique through a third party that "Johnna Appleseed" had again created the damage. None of the plantings destroyed this week was genetically engineered. A staff member at the Plant Pathology Field Headquarters discovered early Tuesday morning that one-third of an acre of cantaloupe, one acre of English walnut saplings and a small weather station had been destroyed. The cost of the vandalism includes more than $14,000 in plant materials and instrumentation plus the cost of lost research time. UC Davis police suspect the vandals may have hopped over the chain-link fence between the plant pathology field area and the UC Davis off-ramp from Interstate 80. A large irrigation valve appears to have been tossed over the fence at that point. According to Richard Bostock, professor and acting chair of the plant pathology department, 178 walnut trees, which had been planted in May, were broken in half and many of the metal support stakes were knocked over. The trees were English walnuts, which had been grafted onto a "wingnut" rootstock. Researchers were studying how compatible the wingnut rootstock is with the English walnut, because there is evidence that the wingnut rootstock may be quite resistant to Phytophthora root rot, a major disease affecting the walnut industry in California. The walnut research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was being conducted by Greg Browne, a USDA researcher in the plant pathology department. To the east of the walnut planting, six rows of cantaloupes covering about one-third acre were pulled up. Researchers were observing how well a particular fungicide controlled powdery mildew disease on the melons. Rows of pumpkins and squash on either side of the cantaloupe were not damaged, although they were part of the same research project. The cantaloupe study was being conducted by Doug Gubler, a Cooperative Extension specialist in the plant pathology department. In a tomato plot less than a quarter mile west of the walnuts and cantaloupe, an 8-foot-tall weather station was knocked over and its computerized equipment smashed. The solar-powered weather station was being used to monitor how black mold disease in tomatoes responded to varying weather conditions. The tomato trial was being conducted by Cooperative Extension Specialist Michael Davis of the plant pathology department.