DANVILLE, Ky. (WKYT) - Danville in the summer time, the skies are blue and the flowers are in bloom... well kind of.

"It went from solid, beautiful colors Sunday to dead as a door-nail on Monday," describes Michael McAfee, standing over a flower bed outside of the courthouse, on Main Street.

McAfee, of McAfee Mowing and Landscaping, manages the city's landscaping and he said his first thought was to adjust the watering schedule, but that wasn't the solution and the problem on got worse.

"30- to 35% of all the flowers we put out are pretty much gone," estimates McAfee, who doesn't believe this is by accident.

"I constantly ask 'why?' Is it something we've done? Is it something against the city? It could be just somebody just having some fun in the middle of the night or something."

At another street corner, McAfee says the greatest sign of someone tampering with the plants was recently discovered. He said the grass below the large flower pots also died. Increasing his suspicions.

"If it's a petroleum based product or a chemical that stays in the soil, we're going to have to remove all of that soil, replace the top soil. put the flowers back in and try to really boost the flower's growth," said the landscaper.

The reason for the rush? This city says there is real pressure to look its best by the time the Vice Presidential debate rolls into town this October.

"Danville's got to be the top of it's game, come this fall. We're going to do our best to eliminate this problem and get it back to where it needs to be," vowed McAfee.

But it won't be cheap. While the city says it has more money in the beautification budget this year, McAfee estimated the cost to remove and replant flowers could climb up between $5-to-$10-thousand.

"To have something like this happen is just a real disappointment," expressed McAfee.

The city will hold a regularly scheduled beautification meeting on Monday. This will be the first chance to discuss the plans moving forward.

At this time there are no suspects in the case.