Rabbits? Look at pix here: https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2018/01/italian-cypress-and-twisted-juniper.html?m=1

Do you have squirrels?

Yeah , rabbits can jump 3ft & munch

I'm not wedded to the rabbit idea but the link I posted said that rabbits are able to reach up three feet when on their hind legs. It also had pictures of identical damage.

With ornamental things surrounding the plant, could be a rabbit can elevate themselves on those.

The article floral linked to is SE Utah. They have two kinds of resident Jack Rabbits. Both are in the 17-24" tall range and if the plant is in a pot or next to something they could be used to elevate themselves, no doubt damage could be on the high side.

We'd have to establish if the OP has Jack Rabbits.

https://wildlife.utah.gov/hares-rabbits.html

Cottontails, in my local are much smaller animals and have clipped branches off young trees 3 ft. up, but in winter they get snowpack to elevate themselves.

' We'd have to establish if the OP has Jack Rabbits '

Opps, I guess they do.

https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/blacktailedjack.htm

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK We do get rabbits, rarely, so I will add that to the candidate list.

We do NOT have jackrabbits in this area, but the plant was close to a huge concrete container that would have acted as support. I think squirrel is more likely. But can a squirrel make those precision cuts shown in the last two photos?

@BillMN-z4a LOTS of squirrels in this vicinity

There's an entire industry devoted to identifying, scaring, trapping, scent deterrents and a plethora of other gimmicks aimed at protecting the yard and garden from varmints. Some may work better than others and you could experiment with those, finding ones that work and don't need a lot of reworks or maintenance. Can be very time consuming and frustrating.

Rabbits and squirrels are deathly afraid of owls so maybe an Owl dummy set near the area might keep the varmints from being so bold.

Another option would be to build a small framed in area with a door and cover it with chicken wire. You could use it every time you get new plants to store them safely until you can get to planting. Even add a sunshade. You can do a lot with a few boards and a screw gun.

I kept having trouble with birds digging through my potted seedlings on my plant table until I put a chicken wire covering on it. The four corners of the top section of CW are simply hooked onto screws at the four corners so I can take it off when I need to work on things or add/remove plants.

I have owls on either side of the giant trellis that holds a vine that this thing is eating down every few weeks. It just ignores the owls. I am going to need cameras.

Rabbits feed at night, could be that's why you're not seeing them and they're not seeing the owl.

Squirrels eat during daytime, and it can be difficult to distinguish which one by looking at the cuts.

And you can spend a lot of time & $$ with deterrents, even if you know which culprit and still experience intrusions and other failures.

That's why I suggested a mechanical enclosure of some sort. It's indiscriminate and will stop all varieties of varmints ('Add your resident varmints here') mine are chipmunks, gophers, ground squirrels, porcupines, crows, woodchucks, etc. etc.). If you work with plants regularly, it's a handy thing to have around.

Mines back by the AC, electrical/cable access and water connections so it's indiscreet and gets shade all afternoon.

Your call though. Just my 2 cents. ;-)

@BillMN-z4a I don't even have enough time to even select plants and get them in the ground and figure out how to make them grow. If I now have to additionally build high-security prisons for each plant, I will go completely insane, on top of which the garden will look like a jail.

If this were a discrete vegetable gardening area, then sure building a secure enclosure for that might make a lot of sense.

no no.

Just build ONE enclosure, that's the size you'd normally need for X number of plants.

Sometimes it might almost be empty, other times not big enough.

And it doesn't have to be built in the garden.

But I have no idea what your yard looks like and how the buildings are arranged so can't give advice on where to locate it so it's indiscreet and doesn't have to be a display piece.

If I regularly had potted plants waiting in the wings, I'd find some way to accomplish this.