I don’t think this is really a new trend. I had a neighbor that did this about 20 years ago. They also dug up the shrubs when they left.
I’ve also heard of people pouring cement mix down the toilets/drains, supergluing lightbulbs into the sockets and other such shenanigans.
In some places it’s customary for the neighbors and friends to dig up the shrubbery.
Funny movie from a while back - “Moving” with Richard Pryor, Dana Carvey about a family moving to Boise, ID from NJ.
It is not a new trend.
My brother bought his first condo as a repo, a couple of decades ago, and my understanding is they thoroughly trashed the place.
I heard of a case where the forclosed owner took out all the plumbing fixtures and dumped them into the empty swimming pool.
I know a guy locally who's currently a renter, and is in desperate financial times.
I ran into him at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago, and he was trying to sell the cactus and plants he'd dug out of the back yard.