if the roots look rotten and the soil is still wet before watering. Not on the surface, but in the root area. Often the root and the area also smell foul.
Aphids do not destroy the plants themselves, they weaken them. With those things, ants come along. I have an extremely high number of aphids this year.
Do you have acidic or sandy soil? Did you properly tamp down the thujas when planting? Are they or were they watered too little? Overfertilized or wrong? Fresh compost or horse manure or not weighed, but just worked in by feel?