Oregon homeowner seeks justice after neighbor cuts her 40-year-old maple tree while they're out of town, despite it standing 9 feet inside her property: ‘It can't exactly be put back'

Cata Holmes • Writer

Oct 8, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

How do you replace a 40-year-old tree that you never had the right to cut down in the first place?

I'll never understand the people that decides to cut down ancients trees as if it were nothing. Do you know how long it takes for a tree to reach its maximum potential? Did you know that some of them can live more than 150 years? Cutting down a tree can't be treated like something normal: it has to be taken into thoughtful consideration.

Besides, we're talking about a 40-year-old maple tree that wasn't located on the neighbor's property whatsoever. It was 9 feet inside the homeowner's land, with a clear survey that confirms this information. The worst part of all is that the family went on a little holiday, and when they returned home, they found the tree completely gone. Not even trimmed: gone.

The neighbors weren't too worried about it. They said that the tree service company must have confused the trees that needed to be cut down. Of course, this is not true a lot. The homeowners have evidence that shows how the neighbors wanted that tree gone for a while and never found a way to remove it until they left for that little trip.

This story brings back memories of something similar that happened to my family years back. We have a beautiful tree outside our home, and it causes some problems with the flowers and leaves. They used to get on the neighbors' gutters, and my dad had to trim it every fall. One time, we left for a barbecue and came home late at night. We found that every branch of the tree was gone, not a single one. With our security camera footage, we realized it was our neighbor, who has zero knowledge of tree trimming.

The tree ended up being fine, and luckily not gone like the one in the story shared by the user, but it's still a painful situation to face. Of course, both are ready to seek justice and make them pay for their trespassing and the missing tree.

via Unsplash+ (via HiLine Cranes)

Tree removal crew using heavy equipment to remove a large tree trunk from a residential property.
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via Unsplash+ (via Vitaly Gariev)

Upset woman being comforted by her partner.
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via Unsplash+ (via Zack Masters)

Professional tree worker cutting branches with a chainsaw.
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