Cactus plugging is the practice of vandalizing or destroying a cactus, usually a saguaro, for fun. The Extension Office of the University of Arkansas says that the activity usually involves an inebriated person shooting at a cactus until it falls over.
In 1982, David Grundman was killed while cactus plugging. After shooting at a saguaro cactus he poked at it to try to make it fall over and caused an arm of the cactus, weighing 500 pounds (230 kg) to fall on him. The trunk of the cactus then also fell on him.
The act of cactus plugging, if performed on a saguaro, is illegal in Arizona.
In Popular Culture
The Austin Lounge Lizards wrote the song "Saguaro" to commemorate the death of David Grundman.
References
Cactus plugging Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA