For one Virginia homeowner, a large oak tree was a longstanding source of joy on his property. And then one day, his neighbor cut it down.
The homeowner was furious and posted about it in the subreddit r/treelaw. "Neighbor had no idea where the property lines are, and cut down my healthy 89-year-old oak because he didn't like trees being near his shed," he captioned a photo of the stump.
"Upon my pointing out the property stakes he missed- showing that it was about forty feet into my property- he switched to demanding I pay half the $2K he spent to have day laborers cut it down," he said incredulously.
"I'm just glad I looked out into my backyard and was able to intervene before he had them cut down the adjacent oak as well."
Commenters jumped in with thoughts and unanimously agreed that, while the loss of the tree is tragic, the original poster has a hefty payout coming his way due to Virginia's strict 'timber trespass' laws.
"An oak of that size to replace is likely tens of thousands at minimum," one person said.
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One commenter explained it. "Removing a tree? Only a few thousand. Replacing a tree (like this one) which was removed illegally? Easily high five figures, but potentially in the hundreds of thousands."
Virginia's legal code states that any person who illegally removes timber is liable to pay, not only three times the value of the lost tree, but reforestation costs, valuation costs, and legal costs.
In short, as one person said: "That tree murder will be expensive."
Trees are valued highly because they play a critical role in their ecosystems, naturally filtering air and water, preventing erosion, and providing habitats for local fauna.
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Different places vary in how severe the timber repayment penalties are, but it's an expensive mistake to make wherever you live. One New Jersey resident who cut down 32 full-grown trees on a neighbor's property is facing a total fine, restoration, and reforestation charge of nearly $2 million dollars.
"The trees poisoned at Auburn Universitie's Toomer's Corner Oaks required about $900,000 to replace," another commenter shared. "The guy that poisoned them … was sentenced to 3 years in prison. It is not a trivial thing."
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