Norfolk officials have launched an assault on an invasive plant spreading across dunes fronting the Chesapeake Bay.

Beach vitex, also known as coastal kudzu, has ravaged sand dunes in North Carolina and South Carolina for two decades. It has shown up on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk over the past few months.

City crews are spraying a powerful herbicide mix known as Habitat on the plants, which can overtake and choke out native plants and grasses.

Norfolk director of environmental services Lee Rosenberg said the city wants to take care of the problem before it gets out of hand. The city intends to fence off the colony and next spring apply a new round of herbicide and, if necessary, dig up and destroy the remnants.