This is one crime that you think will never happen to you.
Yes, you can imagine being a victim of car theft or finding your home has been burglarized. However, you probably don't consider the possibility of ... tree theft!
But how would you feel if you were to come home and find a prized tree had been reduced to a stump by unscrupulous "timberjackers?" That's exactly what happened to a reader of this column, and here's what she wrote to me: Steve, I just read your article about tree theft and at the bottom of the page noticed that you invited questions about anything. Yesterday afternoon I noticed my next door neighbor and a man with a truck with high wire sides milling around his driveway for about an hour. I left my house at about 10:30 a.m. or so. (I had taken the day off from work to go to the bank, grocery shopping and the library.) I returned home about 3:00 p.m. to find them on my property where they had cut down a HUGE maple tree and had most of it cut up into fireplace size pieces. I'm sure they weren't expecting me home until my usual 5:00 p.m. arrival from work. I was infuriated, as he had done this once before and that time I let it go. I went right over and told them both that they were not allowed to cut ANY trees down from my property ever and came back to my house to call the police. The officer (town policeman) who came did not even mention the word theft. He said he could arrest them for trespassing and criminal mischief. I told the officer I did not want him to arrest them but insisted that he file a report. While waiting for the officer to come I called a certified tree person who happened to have the same thing happen to him and he advised me to take them to small claims court. Do you know why the officer did not charge them with theft? I know for small claims court I will need a certified tree specialist to place a value on the tree. Thanks for any help you can give.-- Sharleen In my e-mailed reply to Sharleen, I wrote the following: I cannot believe the officer did not file a report on theft! I'm guessing that he considered the crime to be destruction of property. I would definitely take my claim to court and if you might also wish to seek the advice of an attorney. You did the right thing by getting a specialist to evaluate the cost of the tree. I imagine that your attorney would also want the court to consider the cost of replacement. You say it was a large tree and as regular readers know, large trees can provide additional benefits such as shade that reduces your air-conditioning costs. If your attorney can show that the absence of the tree can cause financial hardship, you could recover additional damages. If you wish to read the original columns that Sharleen referred to, you can find the archived at my web site. Just go to www.landsteward.org and click on the "Plant Man" heading. The direct links to those specific stories are as follows: Are you trees on thieves 'most wanted' list? Timberjackers might have their eyes on your valuable trees. Tree theft accounts for losses in the region of $350 million annually, and if you're concerned about the potential loss of any of your own trees, I advise you to read these two columns and see what you can do to protect yourself from timberjackers.
I hope Sharleen's sad story will make you stop and think what your landscape would look like if you were to come home and find one (or more) of your beloved trees had been cut down and hauled away by tree thieves. And if you see suspicious characters with trucks and chainsaws on land where you don't think they belong, go ahead and call the police. It's better to be safe than sorry! The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org where you can also subscribe to Steve's free e-mailed newsletter.
