THE next time a water view-loving tree killer comes near the eucalypts and angophoras at Blackwattle Bay in Glebe, someone will be watching.

Special closed circuit TV cameras for trees, said to be the first in NSW, have been activated. And although the locals were laughing about it yesterday, anyone caught vandalising or poisoning 12 newly planted trees could be fined up to $1.1 million.

City of Sydney landscapers yesterday moved on to the foreshore reserve to plant replacements for lost trees.

The saplings are nothing like their predecessors - 34, 10m giants that were poisoned in 2004. The trees could take 20 years to reach the same height.

The original killer - and the vandal that snapped and ripped substitute saplings in half last year - is still at large. If he or she strikes again, they'll be on camera.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has described the killer culprit as "selfish and disgraceful" and has vowed to do anything in her power to prevent more harm to the trees.

Ray Shipton has lived with his wife in their apartment overlooking the bay for 21 years. He misses the old giants.

They used to block the traffic hum and pollution from the nearby Anzac Bridge.

However he wouldn't report a tree vandal if he saw them.

"I wouldn't report them. I'd get out there with a handle and belt them," he said.