Police Seek Answers in Tree Top Mystery

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Officials are baffled over why someone would cut off the tops of nearly a dozen evergreen trees belonging to a man near Bismarck. Ron Koch estimates his loss at about $4,000. Authorities said it happened sometime within the last week.

"Some of them, they cut off 3, 4, 5, 6 feet," Koch said. "These have been growing 12 to 13 years. So it takes a long time to grow evergreens this big."

Burleigh County Sheriff's Lt. Nick Sevart said authorities get reports like that around Christmas time but he has no idea why someone would do it now.

"They left the tree tops there," Sevart said.

This is a very strange case, and a first in my book. What the hell is going on in Bismarck, N.D.? Could it be supernatural or otherwordly, or did someone have a grudge? Why would someone do this to someone else anyways? You tell me.

I would put my money on those trees being topped in oreder for someone to have a view. If the land owner didn't see the trees being cut he was probably either away OR someone hired some tree climbers to top them off in the midddle of the night.

Some times a cold snap will kill the tops of trees when the juice is flowing but this sounds like he found the tops on the ground. I used to work in a metropolitan park system and people would not be above girdling a tree to kill it if it blocked the view of the mountains from their house. Girdling is removing a band of bark around the tree.

I could go for the idea of it being for the view it blocked. (There was a guy accused of arson on a vacant building that blocked his view of a public swimming pool.) But why the tops? Why not the whole thing right at the easiest place to reach?

Our mystery pruner goes and gets his chain saw, or whatever, fetches at least a tall step stool or a short ladder, and in the middle of a dark and stormy night (Always wanted to use that line. ) he shears off a few feet on each one? Then he carries away his tools and leaves the stubs as a warning, like a horse head under the covers, for the owner to never attempt tall bushes again?

What I don't get here is the "why factor". As it stands this is about as senseless as anything I've seen in a while.

(Now if he has a two story house and a teenage son; and if a cute girl lives across the street, then it's obvious that repeatedly squinting through branches with hormone powered laser eyes has sheared them off, and there's no mystery, as any parent can tell you. )

reply to post by NGC2736


I totally agree. This story is all about the why?? Why the hell would someone go through the trouble of chopping those poor trees heads off?
My first thought was it was one of the tree's lovers looking for revenge, a bush or something, killed the whole family of trees in a scorned rage. But then I realized that idea was just silly. No way that happened I thought.

So if its not a scorned bush, and it wasn't an teenage boy's lazer eyes of horniness, then what the hell was it?




[edit on 17-4-2008 by schism85]

I was walking through the woods today and saw 5 foot sections of spruce tree tops on the ground. This was a thick forest of mostly 4-6 inch diameter spruces and fir growing quite close. The trees got tall as they grew towards the light and most of the growth is at the top. I figure this winters heavy snow collected in the foliage and snapped the weak trunks when the load got too heavy.

I don't remember if the trees in the OP report were sawn or broken but thought I would add this idea to the mix.

[edit on 4/18/08 by stikkinikki]

reply to post by stikkinikki


Nice post, certainly better than my explanation. I gave it a star.