A jury found Douglas Hoffman, a 60-year old Ariz. man, was found guilty of cutting down or poisoning 546 trees from October 2004 until his arrest in November 2005. He was convicted of seven felony counts and three gross misdemeanor counts in Nevada.

The trees were on the property of neighbors and blocked the view of the Las Vegas Strip.

Tree cutting have been the subject of litigation in the past. Usually, this is due to convenants on developments that protect trees or require particular types of trees. Otherwise, landowners are subject to city laws on the cutting of trees, if any. Nuisance laws generally do not protect trees that are cut down by their owners, unless it caused a collateral nuisance to a neighbor like serious run-off. One such case involved Mr. T, the television actor. Mr. T moved to Lake Forest, a suburb of Chicago selected each year as ”Tree City, U.S.A.” by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Mr. T cut down almost two hundred old oak trees around his mansion. The neighbors, however, were unable to stop him. For the full story, click here.