A homeowner was left in shock when their neighbor overstepped their bounds in a big way.

One Redditor posted a photo in the r/treelaw subreddit and detailed their story in which a neighbor installed a new fence and “cut down two of my trees as well as ripped out the plants surrounding it in the process.” The photo showed the small stumps left behind by the neighbor’s landscaping infringement.

“One was a [15-17-foot] dogwood, the other was a [four-foot] dwarf Japanese maple,” the user explained. “How to proceed? Surveyor confirmed it was my land. Several hydrangeas and hostas gone too. Livid.”

Trees not only add beauty and shade to our properties, but they also support local ecosystems and help combat overheating by absorbing carbon from the air. It’s never easy to deal with the loss of mature trees, but it’s even more upsetting when they’re removed without your consent. 

Commenters supported the OP in their frustration with their neighbor’s intrusive decision to cut down the trees and plants on their property.

“That dogwood was OOOOOOOOLLLLLD. They don’t grow fast at all. This is a huge claim,” one commenter stated. “You need an arborist and find any pictures you have of the lost plants ASAP.”

“I can attest that there is absolutely nothing about this fence installation that would have necessitated or even warranted the removal of those trees, especially this particular style of fence,” wrote another commenter who claimed to have worked as a fence builder for 13 years.

If you find yourself in a similar scenario, it’s important to know your rights and the laws in your area regarding property and tree protection. In some places, there can be significant fines for unlawfully removing trees from someone else’s property.

For example, a homeowner in New Jersey learned this the hard way after cutting down a whopping 32 trees on a neighbor’s land just so they could get a better view of New York City. The fine for this egregious action was $1,000 per tree, and that didn’t even include the cost of replacing the mature trees, which can be even more substantial.

After receiving a slew of advice, the OP said in a comment that they plan to hire a lawyer and prepare a lawsuit against their neighbor. Their next step is to “do a consultation with aforementioned lawyer and also get quotes from an arborist on cost to repair, as well as a landscaper on cost to replace the bushes and other plants.”

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