Homeowners in one Colorado Springs neighborhood say a criminal is at work on their streets. And it's not a typical crime.

They're seeing evidence piling up along Big Valley Drive and another street over on Oak Hills Drive: piles of branches that someone is randomly slicing off their trees and shrubs.

The branches lying on the sidewalk are more than just a pain when Alice heads out for her morning walk.

"There’s many piles up and down our street here," Alice said Tuesday.

She knows it's not wind damaging pine tree branches and other trees in the neighborhood. The cuts are clean. Alice has seen it going on for days, possibly weeks on Oak Hills Drive, where someone is striking probably between 11:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.

When Alice is asleep, the one she calls the “Midnite Gardener” is at work. She’s even placed a hand-written sign outside her home asking the person to stop.

"It’s wrong!” she said. “It's wrong. They don't have the permission to do that"

Efforts to clear dangerous brush are underway in the neighborhood following the Waldo Canyon Fire, but those coordinating mitigation efforts call the freshly cut branches something completely different.

"Vandalism. And trespassing,” said Linda Gerwatowski.”

Gerwatowski thinks the vandal or vandals are covering a four to five mile loop through the whole neighborhood...where the neighbors are more than fed up.

"They’re to the point that if this guy gets caught they're ready to press charges," she said.

Police have been notified about what's going on in the neighborhood. 11 News will let you know if the pattern continues and if it leads to any charges.