what's missing from the garden?

This morning I was finishing my spring clean-up of last season's overwintered plant growth and made a disappointing discovery.   Until last night, a new indentation in one of our garden beds contained a large, well-established echinacea.

Now, instead of having this to look forward to in the summer,

we have this hole.

This wasn't an expensive plant, just one I've nurtured for years.  Why do people need to be so scummy?