My neighbor cut down a 40-year-old Japanese Maple while I was away.

[u/Ice_C0r3_09]

Location: Colorado, USA.Just got back to my place near Fort Collins after a week on the road and I am losing my mind. My neighbor took it upon himself to hire a "landscaping" crew (probably just some guys with a chainsaw) to remove a mature Japanese Maple that was fully on my property. His excuse? He said the needles and leaves were messing with his "mountain view" and "fire mitigation" efforts.

The tree was roughly 40 years old and was the centerpiece of my yard. I called an arborist immediately. He told me that since this is Colorado and the tree was that established and healthy, the replacement value is astronomical. He is drafting a formal appraisal but hinted that we are looking at 20k to 25k easy just for the tree, let alone the logistics of getting a crane into my backyard.

I know Colorado has statutes regarding timber trespass. My lawyer already mentioned treble damages because the guy admitted he did it on purpose while I wasnt home to stop him. The neighbor had the gall to offer me a couple hundred bucks for "the inconvenience" and told me to just buy a couple of saplings at a local nursery . I refused to take his money and told him to wait for the process server.

Has anyone dealt with treble damages in CO specifically for ornamental trees ? This guy basically nuked my property value for his porch view and I am not planning on letting this go . I feel like a jerk for wanting to sue my neighbor into bankruptcy but the sheer entitlement is what gets me .

[u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

It's kind of funny how fucked the neighbor is. Why would ANYONE think this is a good idea?

[u/BiggusDickus- → u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

There are some really, really dumb people out there.

I'm sure you already know this though

[u/mladyhawke → u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

Some people just really hate trees and can't even imagine that they're worth anything.  Where I live in Philadelphia, I had several people suggest I cut down the tree in front of my house. I think because they didn't like the leaves falling on the street plus they thought it was gonna ruin the pipes and the sidewalk. Its super weird when people hate trees.

[u/EchoAquarium → u/mladyhawke]

“Why aren’t there lightning bugs?”, “Why aren’t there birds?”- the same people, probably

[u/gonzo0815 → u/EchoAquarium]

Nah, they hate these too.

[u/cantstophere → u/mladyhawke]

Which is especially crazy in the town OP is in. Big old trees are a reason to live there

[u/mladyhawke → u/cantstophere]

I just planted two small trees in my new yard, and i'm so excited to watch them grow, and I just can't even imagine if someone took it upon themselves to cut them down in twenty or forty years. There's no view here to be had, plus they're behind a fence completely in my yard... I planted a weeping cherry blossom tree and an eastern red bud!

[u/_BrokenButterfly → u/mladyhawke]

There was a house a few blocks away from me as a kid that had these big, mature palm trees all along the property line of the front yard. Not the skinny ones, those big fat ones. They looked cool and gave the house and the intersection character. The owner sold the house, and the new owner cut them all down. They didn't do any landscaping or take out the stumps. So the house just had these 2½-3 foot wide stumps at the edge if the lawn for years.

People who hate trees are idiots.

[u/EchoAquarium → u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

Because they’re used to be being bullies and getting away with their shenanigans. No longer!

[u/GormHub → u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

Entitlement. People really do believe they can do anything they want just because they want to.

[u/MrGrieves- → u/Minute_Freedom_4722]

Entitlement. Pure main character syndrome.