Tree mysteriously cut down at Richmond home | News

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Frustration is mounting for a Richmond couple after they came home to find a mess in their yard and their tree half-cut-down. It's been almost a month and no one has claimed responsibility.

The mystery of how the tree got in a skeleton-like condition has the Southern Barton Heights couple playing detective.

They made it through a devastating storm with only a crack down the trunk of the towering tree in their front yard.  At first, Shannon Roberts and her husband couldn't believe the man-made damage they encountered.

Something happened between the time Roberts left for work the morning of June 28 and the time her husband, Larry, returned home.

"There's tire tracks, obviously a heavy type of truck had come through," she explained. "Someone has driven into the yard and pretty much cut over half the tree off and just left everything in the yard!"

The couple talked with neighbors next door and across the street. Both described a large orange truck in the yard, a smaller truck coming by and then a short time later everyone disappearing.

The tree is on private, not public, property.  The couple called police and the City.  Richmond's arborist told them the City hasn't touched the tree and the Department of Public Works gave the same story.

Still, Roberts doesn't believe private contractors would start work without confirming with the owner they would get paid.

"I honestly think someone was at the wrong house," she said. "They came in. They started work on the tree, realized they were at the wrong address, packed up their stuff and left."

Roberts wants answers and someone to take responsibility for butchering her tree.

"At this point we're just trying to get whoever did it to step up and say they did it, finish the job because they've killed it," she added. "At this point they've killed the tree and now something has to be done right away."

Roberts said because of the way the tree was cut, it is quickly dying and now could cost her a few thousand dollars to remove.

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