The white objects are probably Crapemyrtle Bark Scale, an insect pest fairly new to our area which has become quite common on these trees due to how widely they are grown. Unless there are areas of the tree that have a much higher scale population, numbers this few probably aren't causing any serious damage. You can learn more about this insect and its management (which often involves the need to use insecticide) on the linked page.

The bigger issue, however, is what appears to be stunted growth from the leaf buds on the stem. If more of the Crapemyrtle has this symptom, that is more concerning and might not be treatable. Our prime suspect for such symptoms is exposure to herbicide. Was any weed killer product used in the area these trees are growing in the past several weeks, whether applied to the ground or sprayed onto other plants in the general area? If so, what exact product was used?

Some herbicide ingredients drift easily or can be absorbed by nearby tree/shrub roots and are capable of causing permanent damage if the exposure is great enough. There is no treatment for these kinds of exposures, and plants may either grow out of it in time or not (often not, unfortunately). If you can share a photo or two of how the affected trees look overall, we can try to narrow-down a likely cause or how damaged the plants may be in terms of a possibility for recovery.

If herbicide wasn't applied to any weeds in the area, was a spray container (such as a pump sprayer used to dilute and apply concentrated chemicals) used to apply any type of pesticide on the trees? If so, we would suspect that residues from a prior solution in that sprayer (if herbicide was used in it earlier) contaminated the spray and affected the tree's growth.

Miri 

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I attached a photo of the " sick " tree with the other trees around it. Almost the entire tree is like this, white bugs and  stunted leaf growth. We have not sprayed any herbicide, also to note whatever this issue is , it's spreading to the tree next to the " sick " tree.

Thank you for the photo. While Crapemyrtle Bark Scale can cause damage to Crapemyrtles when their populations are high, the pictured symptoms are not a consequence of their feeding, but due to another factor. Even though you mentioned no herbicide has been applied, the tree's symptoms strongly suggest exposure to a herbicide at some point before the malformed and severely stunted buds/leaves appeared. Could anyone have made an application, like a member of the congregation that helps to maintain the landscaping, or perhaps a hired landscaping company? Does that planting bed receive runoff from the parking lot (if anything contaminated the runoff water), or does the bed's soil line sit well above that level? We can't see the base of the planting in the photo, so while site conditions of limited root room and reflected/radiated heat from all that pavement is certainly a contributing factor to chronic tree stress, and possibly a greater vulnerability to the scale insects, it doesn't explain the drastic canopy symptoms by itself.

You noted that no herbicide was applied, but was any other product applied to this general area before the trees showed this symptom? Insecticide? Fungicide? Any pesticide of any sort? We're pursing that line of questioning because it looks like the only explanation that would fit the symptoms pictured.

Miri