A homeowner was stunned to come home and find that a beloved holly tree in their yard had been cut down. What's even worse is that their neighbor's landlord might have done the cutting. 

Posting in the r/treelaw subreddit, they shared photos of their mature American holly tree ad said "I'm at a loss." It had clearly been butchered down to the stump, and its collection of foliage was left behind in the street. 

"This tree is over 20 years old and has not been an issue the entire 3 years we have lived in this house," the original poster said in the caption. "I know Ohio law has treble damages and I'm not sure what steps to take for compensation for our tree." 

The OP continued: "I'm also not sure how to prove that the neighbors landlord had it cut. I've asked other neighbors on our street and one told me that she saw a man cutting down the tree, but I have no way of proving who it was. … Any advice would be great, thank you!"

Cutting down mature, healthy trees is a serious offense in much of the United States. As the OP said, Ohio is particularly strict about who can cut trees and why. 

According to the Ohio Bar Association, neighbors are permitted to cut back tree branches that encroach on their property line without consulting their neighbor. However, they can only cut up to said property line. They're not allowed to even set foot on their neighbor's property without permission to cut back those branches. 

On top of that, Ohio law prohibits someone from "recklessly cutting down, destroying, or otherwise injuring a tree, bush, vine, shrub, sapling or crop on another's property without permission to do so." The offending party could be charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor. 

If that wasn't enough, they're also liable for treble, or three times, the damages from a civil court case. The person doesn't need to have been found guilty of the misdemeanor to be responsible for those financial damages. 

Full-grown, mature trees like this holly aren't cheap either. They can cost thousands of dollars to replace, meaning the damages from an act like this would be significant. 

Even with those risks, it hasn't stopped overzealous neighbors from destroying trees that aren't theirs without permission.

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Commenters in this case were quick to offer advice. 

"Looking for cameras in the neighborhood is the right thing to do," one said. "Not only did it get an ugly pruning job, but a massive amount of branches have been hauled off. … Without photo evidence or a reliable eye witness, accusing the landlord next door isn't going to fly."

"The good news is that Holly springs back like a beast," said another. "Healthier and pricklier than ever. Still, this was definitely a terrible thing for someone to do to your holly."

The OP provided an update confirming their suspicions.

"I talked to the landlords company and it was her maintenance man, he tried to lie about it at first until I let him know that my neighbors had seen him cutting the tree and I told him that want compensation or I will press charges because I have enough eyewitnesses to show he did it," they said.

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