Brooklyn’s Paul Bunyan Says Anger Made Him Chop Down Tree

In early June a man was caught by surveillance camera chopping down a gingko tree in front of 352 East Eighth Street in Kensington in what was presumed to be a determined heist of a small child’s bicycle.

It turns out the axe murderer is 25 year-old Francisco Marxuach who admits to the deed, but claims he was not motivated by greed but by grudge.

Marxuach explained to New York Post journalists that he lived in that apartment building in the past, and the reason he cut down the 20-foot tall tree was because one of his neighbors in the building had been “very disrespectful” to him.

Judge Evelyn LaPorte of the Brooklyn Criminal Court ordered that Marxuach finish two entire days’ worth of community service. The judge also told Marxuach at his arraignment of June 11 that, as long as he stayed out of any further trouble for the next six months, the charges would be dismissed.

Kensington Ginkgo Tree Felled Just to Steal a Cheap Bike

Last week a group of bike thieves encountered a cheap, department store bike locked up to a ginkgo tree in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. Since the bike was locked and presumably the thieves did not have the tools to cut through the chain, they decided it was worth their own intense efforts as well as the destruction of the beautiful tree which was planted there to enhance their own Kensington neighborhood, to chop down the tree to get to the bike.

The entire episode was caught on closed circuit TV, and can be viewed on YouTube. There is a thread now on the Reddit social bookmarking site discussing whether or not the tree can or cannot grow back. But in addition to the obvious waste of a wonderful tree in a neighborhood that can certainly use some “sprucing up,” the man who began the thread on Reddit explained why he is especially hurt by this wanton destruction:

“My dad co-paid with the landlord for the foresters to plan this specific tree,” he wrote. “I don’t know if it’s actually his legally, but it’s definitely his in spirit.” Later he added, “My dad really wanted that type of tree as allegedly it’s very long lived. A legacy if you will.”